The Lost Heroine
by praetorsgrace
Summary: Reyna has a memory problem. She can't seem to remember anything about herself since before she woke up on a bus headed towards the Grand Canyon. Piper has a secret. A giant has her father, and she has to betray her friends to get him back. Leo has a way with tools. Although he fits in, he'll always stands out. Reyna and Annabeth switched AU.
1. I

Reyna woke up on a bus, surrounded by people that she didn't know.

She pulled her head off the window, rubbing her temple. The more she thought about it, she couldn't even remember who _she _was. The only thing she had was faint impressions- she was around sixteen, she always wore her hair in a braid, and that she shouldn't be on this bus.

The girl next to her must have felt her shift, because she turned to face her. "Oh hey, Rey. You awake?"

The girl was goregous. She had choppy brown hair, eyes that seemingly couldn't decide on a color to be, and a deafening smile. The nickname must have meant that they were friends, yet she didn't even know her name.

Reyna's eyebrows knit together. "Who are you?"

The girl raised an eyebrow. "I'm Piper. Reyna, are you alright?"

Before she could open her mouth and respond that no, she was not alright, a boy stuck his head over the seat. He had curly black hair, a small, impish face, and a smile that made Reyna scowl at him immediately. "C'mon, Rey. All the jokes in the world, and you go for the amnesiac one? Sometimes I re-think our friendship."

"Leo, I think she's serious." Piper responded, shifting in the bus seat to face her. "Do you really not remember me? Or Leo?"

Reyna shook her head no. "It's not just that. I don't remember who I am."

Leo raised an eyebrow. "Well, crash course for you. Us three are all super close. I'm the leader of our three amigos- you both do all of my chores, cover for me when I get detention, and are hopelessly in love with me, obviously."

Piper swatted him. "Leo, stop it."

He sighed. "Okay, fine. We all go to this Wilderness School- where the kids are the animals." He joked, looking at Reyna for a reaction. He didn't get one. "It's for us 'troubled kids'. I'm a runaway, and Piper over there stole a car."

She turned red, sending him a cross look, giving her the impression that they'd discussed this before at length. "I didn't steal it."

Before they could continue the fight, Reyna butted in. "Why am I here?"

Leo opened his mouth to reply, but his expression turned puzzled. Soon, even Piper had the look on her face. After a moment, they both looked to her, astonished. "You must have told us, I mean…"

"What's my last name?" She asked, and again they looked to each other, their expressions half wonder and half horror.

"This is freaky. Like, next level horror movie creepy-" Leo began, before he was cut off.

"Cupcakes! We're almost to the Grand Canyon. For my sake, please no throwing each other off it. I don't want to be doing the paperwork." A short man stood, only his baseball cap and bat visible before she craned her neck. He had beady eyes and a gruff expression, a whistle hanging around his neck.

"That's Coach Hedge." Piper supplied, before his glare focused on her, somehow hearing her voice over the twenty other rows of kids. "Back row, I don't want to warn you again-"

Leo grinned, before winking at Reyna. Immediately, she felt as if she needed to be ducking and covering. "Watch this," He turned back around to face Hedge. "Hey Coach, I can't hear you. Would you mind using your megaphone?"

The coach huffed, although seemed to be pleased to use it. He lifted it to his mouth, before farm animal noises began to spill from it, causing him to regain his glare.

"Valdez! That's it- back row, you get to do the dishes!"

The bus cheered, and the Coach met her eyes. Although it didn't seem possible, he glared even more at her. She felt a sudden jolt- he knew that she wasn't supposed to be here. At the same time, she felt a surge of relief- she wasn't just an amnesiac who felt as if they didn't belong. She actually didn't belong.

The bus pulled to a stop, and the Coach's eyes went away and back out to the other kids. "Get with your partners and do your worksheets. Anyone not back on the bus when we leave gets left, you hear me?"

He left the bus, and Piper turned to face her, irritation on her face. Before Reyna could as what was wrong, another boy had joined them, hooking arms with Piper. "Ready, partner? This is going to be fun."

She rolled her eyes. "I guess."

The boy's smile didn't move, and he laughed. "Well then, let's go!" Just before they turned to leave, his eyes flashed on Reyna, and his expression was a mix of surprise and anger, before it was gone, then so was he.

Leo leaned back over the seat, sighing loudly. "Oh, I'm so handsome. I would be my own partner, but that would be too much hotness to handle, so you're the lucky girl today!" He made kissing faces at Reyna, and she rolled her eyes.

"Leo, are you always this weird?" She asked.

He nodded, his smile growing. "Yes ma'am. Now c'mon, we're partners. Hope you have your worksheet, because mine are those spitballs on the back of Dylan's boots."

…

Reyna's hands wrapped tightly around the metal bar, her knuckles turning white as she peered over the edge of the Grand Canyon. It was chaotic and long, looking like some God had taken a knife to it- maybe Mars, or Bellona. Someone with a temper.

Mars? Bellona? Her head began to burn, and she put her face in her hands. Where had those names came from? They sounded so familiar, yet foreign, like the name of a long lost imaginary friend. Attempting to figure out where she knew the names just gave her a headache.

"You okay?" Leo asked, still messing around with his pipe cleaners. Throwing it over the edge, it flew to the middle before dropping. It was an incredible feat, but she could hardly concentrate with her head pounding. She shrugged, before noticing that the coach was all alone.

"I'll be back, Leo." Reyna told him absentmindedly, pushing the worksheet at him before she walked off.

She made her way past the other kids to the Coach. She was taller than him, seeing he was at an even five feet, which made it awkward when she finally reached him, and was a solid eight inches taller.

He stood with his arms crossed over his chest, as if he was waiting for her.

"You. Are you the monster, then?" He questioned, causing her to raise an eyebrow.

"What? Uh, no."

"Then who are you?"

"I don't know, sir. I can't remember anything." She answered honestly, hoping that he would believe her. Maybe he'd think she hit her head or something, which she could have. It wasn't as if she'd remember.

He uncrossed his arms and looked at her, frowning, scanning the expression on her face. "I believe you. It would explain why I've never seen you before today. Besides, you're obviously a half blood. Did the camp send you?"

She shook her head, and he frowned. "Perfect. Now I have to protect the three of you. The extraction team should be here soon, though. They'll take you all to Camp."

When Coach Hedge talked about a Camp, she felt her heart flutter. It brought back odd memories, and when she concentrated, she could almost see a flash of a dark purple flag, one word written upon it in gold.

The winds began to pick up, blowing Reyna's braid into her face. Then they began to get even worse, as if a hurricane had suddenly dropped down onto them.

"Not this." Coach muttered, before yelling at the students to get inside. Reyna squinted and tried to follow Hedge, struggling against the storm.

Piper and Dylan held the doors to the museum open, all the students running in. Just before Leo could make it in, the doors slammed shut, leaving the three of them, along with the Coach, Dylan, and two other boys on the outside.

Piper pulled on the doors, trying to force them to open. "Help me, Dylan!" She yelled at him, over the roar of the wind.

"Sorry, Piper. I'm done helping." He flicked his hand, and she slammed into the door, rolling down to the floor, dazed.

Slowly, Dylan and his lackeys began to shift, changing shape. If the air could have a physical form, they would have been it, which made Leo's eyes go wide. Although she was surprised, Reyna felt herself tensing instead of being shocked, shifting away from the creatures.

"You're losing your nose, grandpa! We've been here the whole time, under your watch, and you didn't even notice!" The ex-Dylan laughed, before sticking out his hand, which caused a gust of wind to send Leo over the railing.

"Damn it. Reyna, you keep him occupied. I'll get him." Coach ordered, kicking off his shoes.

"What? How?" She demanded, before seeing his feet. There weren't any- there were hooves instead. "You're a faun." She stated, and he bleated.

"Satyr! Fauns are Roman. Now keep him busy!" He shouted, climbing over the edge for Leo.

Reyna turned back to the storm spirits, gripping the club. Dylan smirked, and she threw it hard at him, managing to nail his head and cause golden liquid- blood, she realized- to fall from his forehead.

Instead of falling to the ground, he smiled. "My mistress said to wait. I could have attacked at any time. A third was coming, someone special."

Reyna's hand found her way into her pocket, and she pulled out a silver ring. It had a torch and sword crossed over one another, a symbol that she felt she should know. Gripping it tight, it began to grow in her hand, until she was holding a five foot tall spear, completely golden with a purple handhold. It was both beautiful and lethal.

An astonished laugh came from Dylan as he looked at her. "Look what we have here, boys! She said you were special, but I didn't think she meant that we'd get one of the Praetors of the Twelfth Legion!"

The title sent a shiver of pride down her back, even if she had no idea what it meant. Piper, finally recovering, picked up the club that had rolled over towards her. She gripped it tightly, pretending to still be out.

"Knock the queen of her throne, will you?" Dylan chuckled.

The two other spirits charged her. As if rehearsed, she ran the first one through the head with her spear, and he exploded into dust. The other made a swipe at her, but she ducked and rolled, coming back up and stabbing him through the gut, before he too was gone. The fighting had taken less than ten seconds, and it was over.

Dylan looked beyond angry as he took a step towards her. Coach Hedge finally reappeared back over the side with Leo, who was groaning. "Cupcake! I told you to distract them, not kill them! Leave me a challenge, would you?"

"I just got thrown off the Grand Canyon! Stop asking for challenges!" Leo yelled.

Piper, sensing the tension, began to get to her feet shakily.

Dylan, however, was oblivious to the fact. His eyes were locked onto hers, as if he was going to shoot lasers from them. Angrily, he lifted his hand and the air smelled of electricity.

She couldn't explain it, but the second she could feel the electricity in the air, she rolled out of the way. The feeling was familiar, something that stumped her on how she'd learned.

The lightning didn't hit her full on, but did manage to shock her through her spear, and send her flying back into the railing, and almost over it. She dropped her spear, and it fell into the canyon. Grasping the railing, she pulled herself over to safety.

The lightning had turned her hand black, burning it slightly. She pulled off her destroyed jacket, revealing a purple shirt as she stepped forward into the chaos. It was instantly whipped away by the winds.

Piper swung hard at Dylan, hitting the back of his head with Hedge's club and sending him flying. Despite the fact his head was heavily bleeding now, he smiled smugly. "My mistress calls and I will take you!" He grabbed Piper's arm, before starting to take off.

Piper managed to free herself at the last minute, causing him to lunge for Leo instead. Coach yelled and jumped on him, which pushed Leo to the ground. This time, Dylan took off, but with Coach Hedge in tow.

* * *

**A/N: Thank you so much for reading! This story will differ from the Lost Hero in a few ways due to the change in characters, but it will stick with the book as much as it can. xo, Lauren.**


	2. II

Still stunned from watching Coach Hedge being kidnapped by Dylan, Reyna managed to get to her feet shakily, the aftereffects of the storm lingering.

Reyna and Piper rallied to Leo, who was flat on the ground, groaning in pain. The storm had finally given up, letting them get to him easily.

"Did that just happen? Or am I finally ready to check into that psychiatric unit that my foster parents tried to admit me to?" Leo questioned, his eyes shut, as if trying to believe this was a dream.

"It happened." Reyna stated simply.

Piper looked at her strangely, as if she'd just dropped from space. "What was that? The spear, the fighting, the thing about the Praetor of the Tenth Legion-"

"Twelfth." Reyna corrected. "And honestly? I still have no clue where I learned to do that." She reached her hand in her pocket, and pulled out the ring again. It felt painfully familiar, and yet, she still couldn't place it. With a sigh, she slipped the ring onto her finger.

"Do you see the flying horses too?" Leo interrupted, staring at the sky. At first, Reyna was tempted to tell him that he just might have been going crazy, maybe hit his head too hard when he'd fallen. Then she saw the figures- two flying horses pulling a chariot.

She watched them circle overhead once, before beginning to descend towards them. "Coach Hedge said there was an extraction team coming… that must be them."

"Extraction?" Leo asked. "That sounds painful."

Reyna didn't answer as the UFO began to become clearer. It was a chariot, pulled by two pegasi. Inside were two boys- one extremely muscular, the other with a mop of black hair and green eyes. Seeing the second boy sent a flash of anger through her, which only confused her more.

They landed, taking in the situation. The boy with the black hair noticed Reyna was the only one who looked fairly unshaken, and went to her first. "Sorry we're late. Storm was a little too strong. What happened?" His eyes were kind, but his voice was tired, as if he'd been awake for days.

She did her best to explain, an edge in her voice, with Piper and Leo throwing in tiny details that she missed. She sounded hostile, and she didn't want to trust this boy, but she figured that she didn't have much choice. When she brought up the Venti, they nodded, as if expecting it. "That explains the storm." The muscular dude said, before looking over Reyna.

"Percy, look." He nodded to her. His eyes went to her hand- still blackened from the lightning.

"The girl with the burned hand." Turning her arm, she hid her hand from the stares of not only the boys, but now Piper and Leo.

"Have you seen a girl around here? Named Annabeth?" Percy questioned, obviously trying to keep his voice steady, but failing. Reyna shook her head. She'd never heard of anyone with that name before.

Percy frowned deeply for a moment, obviously disappointed. "She was supposed to be here." He muttered angrily, before looking back up at her, trying to calm himself down. "You're sure?" She nodded curtly, the note of desperation in his voice putting her at edge. Whoever this girl was, he was obviously worried sick.

Percy turned back to Butch. "Let's get out of here before the storm spirits come back."

He headed over towards the horses, petting one's mane for a moment before he hopped into the chariot. "What was that about?" Reyna asked Butch, watching him carefully.

"Don't be too hard on him. His girlfriend, Annabeth, just up and disappeared three days ago. This was supposed to be the answer, coming here." Butch informed, glancing over at him carefully. "Find the girl with the burned hand, find the answer."

Leading them to the chariot, Butch ushered them in, and they stepped up behind Percy. Setting her hand on the outside, Reyna gripped it tightly. Just the touch send a shiver down her spine, caused her to tense. She'd seen one before- but where she didn't know, per usual.

"You ok?" Piper asked, glancing at her, obviously concerned. She realized she'd been holding on tight enough to turn her knuckles on her good hand white, a scowl on her face. Uncurling her hand, she nodded.

Whipping the reigns, the pegasi took off, flapping their wings and sending them into the air. Looking back at Leo, he was jumping all over, looking over the edge and being way too casual, especially since there was a total of three feet to stand in the chariot. "How cool is this?" He asked Piper, who ignored him, looking awfully pale.

The sky crackled, thunder sounding all around them. "Not that I don't like this, but where are we going?" Leo questioned, glancing up at Percy.

"Camp Half-Blood," he told them, his voice perking up a bit. "It's a place for kids like us. The monsters can't get in- you'll be safe there, I promise."

"Half Blood?" Piper repeated, her eyebrows raised. The way she took personal offence, Reyna guessed that the word had been used against her, and not in a good way. "Please tell me that's a bad joke."

"He means we're demigods." Reyna answered, the words tumbling from her mouth, as if she'd spoken them before. She had no idea why she was doing it, but she felt compelled. "Half human, half God."

Percy and Butch both raised an eyebrow at one another, sending a surprised look, before they turned back to Reyna. "Reyna's right, although I have no idea how. My father is Poseidon, god of the sea. Butch's mom is Iris, the rainbow goddess."

From behind, Leo choked, and despite barely knowing him, she resisted the urge to smack him for what was coming next. "The rainbow goddess?" He repeated.

"You have a problem with that?" He asked, dangerously calm, the way adults got when they were forced to be patient with little kids.

"No, no… Rainbows and Ponies, very macho." Leo replied, his impish grin barely hidden.

"I'm going to toss you off this chariot."

Piper ignored them, looking at Percy. "Wait, you mean to tell me that… my mom would be-"

Reyna cut her off as the lightning struck again, this time hitting the chariot. "Wheel and axle are on fire!" She called, earning a few choice words from Butch.

"Hang on!" Percy yelled, his voice barely carrying through the wind. "This is about to get ten times more difficult than it needed to be!"

With Percy's warning, the pegasi suddenly sped up, and seemed to bend even the light around them. The sky turned dark and Reyna's stomach leapt into her throat. She hung on for dear life, before suddenly the sky shifted back to normal, revealing the new landscape.

Out on the horizon was the skyline of a city, and with a shock, Reyna realized that it was New York City. The buildings were far enough that it would have taken a while to get there, but from the angle of the chariot, she could tell that it wasn't their destination.

Below them, there was a grey ocean, with a green-and-white forest opposite. Spread out in front, however, were Greek-styled cabins, met with courts, a large blue house, a climbing wall on fire, archery targets, and a lake- which they were heading right for.

Before any of them could say a word, the wheels were ripped from the chariot, and they dropped towards the water.

Just as they were to hit, however, the water seemed to reach up, as if to catch them. It stopped the fall of the chariot, but only Butch and Leo, who were in the front, had the common sense to duck. The wave shook the broken chariot, spilling out Piper, Reyna, and even Percy.

The water was freezing, seeping into her bones. It was only once she was close to the bottom, she realized that she was drowning. It was as if her body was too cold to work, her arms not strong enough suddenly to propel her forward.

Thankfully, someone grabbed her arm and pulled her to the surface, and out of the lake. Coughing and spluttering, she spat out the lake water before she managed to look up, and see it was Percy who had grabbed her. He was completely dry, but for some reason, this seemed obvious. Son of Poseidon- of course he had control over water.

"Thanks." She managed, and he nodded, holding out a hand for her. She took it gratefully. A few campers came over with a large, bronze leaf blower, blew the air at her for a good couple seconds, and she was dry again.

Scanning the crowds that had appeared, she noticed each of the individual campers. They were ranged from maybe seven to twenty years old, wearing orange shirts like Percy and Butch. One pushed his way through the crowd, a quiver of arrows over his shoulder.

"Percy, you said you'd return it in one piece this time!" The guy shouted, looking equally pissed, and as if he was expecting this outcome.

"Sorry, Will," Percy told him. "I'll get it fixed, no worries."

Sighing, Will looked over Piper and Leo, his eyes skipping away from Reyna nervously, as if her eyes might shoot lasers at him. "These are them? They're all much older than thirteen. Why haven't they been claimed yet?"

Leo raised his hand high, as if in a classroom with a talkative teacher. "Uh, excuse me? Claimed? We're not some coats in the lost in found, you know."

As Percy opened his mouth to answer, a call came from someone in the crowd. "Any sign of Annabeth?" It asked.

Percy shook his head, his expression darkening. The expression was odd to see on his face, making him look dangerous. The collective muttering that followed showed that both Percy and this Annabeth were leaders here- or as close as you got.

And especially now, with all these people looking at her, Reyna had a really bad feeling that she wasn't supposed to be here.

* * *

**A/N: I decided I will be doing all the chapters in Reyna's POV (that's what I'm planning, at least- I might have a few in other POV's). Thank you for reading!**


	3. III

With their backs to the lake, Reyna, Piper, and Leo were subject to the stares of all of the campers, some curious, but most upset over the news about Annabeth. Down the middle, campers were being pushed out of the way until a girl appeared at the front, brushing her hair behind her shoulder.

She was gorgeous, without a doubt. She was tall, Asian, and had her black hair curled all around her face. She wore enough makeup for the three of them, and had so much jewelry you could hardly see her orange shirt and jeans.

Even just the way she pushed through the crowd, like she was above them, told Reyna that they weren't going to be very good friends.

The girl looked them over,as if they were a pair of shoes. "Well, they don't look like much. I sure hope destroying the chariot was worth it."

The camp went silent, so Leo's snort was heard loud and clear. "Gee, thanks. That just warms my cold, dead heart. What are we, your new pets?"

"No kidding," Reyna added, her arms crossed over her chest. "How about you actually explain some things before you start judging us- like, what is this place, why are we here, how long do we have to stay?"

"Reyna," Percy said, "We'll get your questions answered. And Drew- everyone is worth saving. Even if this trip didn't accomplish what I'd hoped it would."

Piper stepped up, looking ready to hit Drew upside the head. "We didn't ask to be brought here."

Sniffing, Drew looked her over critically. "Nobody wants you here, hon." Her eyes caught on Piper's braids. "Does your hair always look like a dead badger, or is that just today?"

As she began to lunge forward at the glamour girl, Reyna held out an arm to stop her, and Percy warned from behind her, "Drew, stop."

"We need to make our new arrivals feel welcome, Drew. We'll assign them each a guide, give them a tour around camp, get them their bunk in the Hermes Cabin. Hopefully by campfire, they'll be claimed." Percy reprimanded, looking somewhat miffed with her.

"Again… What, exactly is this 'claiming' business?" Leo asked.

A collective gasp went around the crowd, and they all took a few steps back from Leo, as if he had suddenly contracted a highly contagious disease. Looking up, Reyna saw that there was a burning red symbol above his head, a fiery hammer inside. She recognized it immediately.

"That," Percy stated, "Is claiming. A little weird, I know, but apparently telephones are too modern of an invention."

"What?" Leo asked, ducking and swatting at his head, like a bee was flying around it. "Is my hair on fire? What's going on?"

"This isn't good." Butch warned, "With the curse of Cabin Nine-"

"It's okay, man." Percy told him, a hand on his shoulder. "Leo, you've just been claimed-"

For her lack of memory, the feelings of déjà vu were especially strong. When Percy was talking to Leo, she even felt herself wanting to explain this to him, as if she knew it and had practiced it, despite never hearing it before. But she did know what it meant, which was a first for the day.

A flash of pain hit between her eyes, and when they opened, Reyna was in front of a different group of people, all in purple shirts and white togas. She held her spear, and stood at the front of the crowd with another, whose face was just out of view. A young girl, no older than nine, had the same symbol blazing over her head.

As she blinked, it was gone just as fast as it started.

"By a God." Reyna cut in, her eyes meeting Percy's. "That's the symbol of Vulcan, isn't it?"

Every pair of eyes in the crowd seemed to float to her, including Piper and Leo.

"Uh, Reyna- how did you know that?" Percy asked, completely confused. If she'd been having a better day, she might have laughed at he fact that someone was finally more confused then she was for a minute.

"I'm not sure."

"Vulcan?" Leo interrupted, eyebrows raised. "I don't even LIKE Star Trek! What the hell is going on?"

Tearing his eyes away from Reyna, he spoke to Leo. "I'm pretty sure that Vulcan is the Roman name for Hephaestus, who's the god of blacksmiths and fire. One of the nicer gods, at least."

"The god of what? Who?"

Biting his lip, Percy turned back to Will, who was staring at Reyna with a curious look in his eyes. "Will, give Leo a tour, would you? Then take him to the forges with the rest of Cabin Nine."

Leading Leo off into the Camp, Will put his hand on his shoulder, looking sympathetic as he began to explain to him the world of demigods and monsters.

Percy's eyes went to Reyna again, catching at her forearm. "What's that? On your arm?"

Uneasily, Reyna turned over her right forearm. Inside it was a pitch black tattoo. It had a sword and a torch crossed on top, followed by the letters SPQR, and four lines underneath, like crude tally marks. It felt personal, for some reason- like a diary, or even an identification card. The symbols on it matched the ones on her silver ring.

"I've never seen marks like this before. Where did you get them?" He asked, the confusion plain in his voice.

"I'm getting really, really tired of saying this, but I don't know."

All of the campers peered around eachother to see her tattoo better, but they didn't get any closer. She wasn't sure if it was because she scared them, or the tattoo did- probably both.

Pressing his lips together, Percy looked at her tattoo decisively. "Chiron needs to see this. Drew, would you mind-"

"Oh, I can't. But no worries, Mitchell can." Drew smiled prettily at Percy, before whispering something in the boy next to her's ear. He nodded once, before stepping forward to Reyna. She didn't want to leave Piper alone, but she had no choice. Sending her a look that said 'Sorry, I'll be back', she followed after Mitchell to the blue house in the center of Camp.

He was on the shorter side, and had a mop of dark brown hair. He looked the opposite of Drew- messy t-shirt, tattered jeans, and no irritating sense of confidence. She already liked him more.

"So.. how old are you?" Mitchell asked casually, looking up at her.

"Uh, I think sixteen." She answered. It felt right, but then again, she could have been ninety-nine for all she knew.

"Where are you from?" He kept the friendliness in his voice, but there was a slight edge, as if

this was rehearsed.

Suspiciously, she looked at him as she responded. "I don't know."

He nodded, expecting that answer. "What's your last name?"

This time, she saw the façade. He was trying to figure out if she was lying about not remembering anything- probably, most likely, put up to it by Drew herself. She did her best not to turn around and find her, kicking her teeth in.

"Mitchell, I'm not lying about my amnesia, you know."

Suddenly, he stumbled over his own foot, making a noise that sounded an awful lot like choking to Reyna. Straightening back up, he shook his head, swallowing hard.

"No, no- Well, I mean yeah- but I wasn't… I didn't!" He managed to get out, not meeting her eyes. Then she realized where he was looking- above her head, exactly where the hammer had appeared for Leo.

"You're waiting for a sign." She stated.

Once again meeting her eyes, he looked panicked. "Well- yeah. I mean- you're obviously a really powerful demigod… and I mean, you're older than thirteen, so- Oh, look, we're here."

Looking up, Reyna realized they had stopped outside the large house they'd seen on the way in. It was at least three stories tall, and covered in peeling blue paint, like an old farmhouse you'd expect to see in an old television show. There were wrap-around porches that lead to the back.

As she stepped closer, it was like a wall had slammed into her, forcing her back. Every cell in her body screamed, telling her to get away. _Dangerous, _it said. _You do not belong._

"I'm not supposed to be here, Mitchell," She told him breathlessly.

He raised an eyebrow, glad for the sudden change in subjects. "We all feel like that at first. But Percy said that you killed two of those storm spirits by yourself. Most of us can't even-"

"Not like that, Mitchell. I mean I don't belong at this Camp. It's not right."

Reyna couldn't explain the feeling she had. At the same time that she could recall absolutely nothing about herself, she knew that being here was wrong. The claiming and demigod business was right, sure- but as she neared this building, saw the orange shirts, they all screamed to stay away.

Before he could ask what she meant, footsteps sounded. No, not footsteps- _hooves._

"Chiron!" Mitchell called, relief dripping from his words. "This is Reyna, one of the demigods Percy found."

Turning on her heel, Reyna almost fell over. The man was a centaur- from the waist up, he looked like a teacher, with scraggly hair and a beard, a simple brown shirt on. However, from the waist down he was a white stallion, a bow and quiver slung over his back. His eyes were hidden by the low ceiling of the porch.

Stepping down, he smiled kindly at Reyna, before it drained away quickly. The warmth in his brown eyes left, and suddenly he no longer looked friendly- he looked terrified.

"You," Chiron started, his voice dying out. "You should be dead."

…

After Chiron had ordered- or invited, per say- Reyna in, he'd settled into his wheelchair. It had expanded to fit his horse-half into, before folding back in, leaving him looking like a regular mortal, which still didn't take the edge away. The way he had looked at her had been enough to destroy what little idea she had that she was supposed to be here, and was just being paranoid.

Mitchell had fled as soon as Chiron had nodded his way, racing off down the path without a glance back.

"Follow me," Chiron spoke, drawing her attention again. "We have lemonade."

Walking into the building, Reyna was unsure of what she expected. However, what she did not expect was the smell of grapes, the entire room coated in vines. There was an old leather couch by a roaring fireplace, surrounded by strange décor- Greek theater masks, beads, and even a stuffed leopard, which quickly made a point of growling loudly.

"No offence, but what is all of this?" She questioned, an eyebrow raised.

"This was a, uh, parting gift from our director. He figured it would help us remember him while he was being recalled to Olympus. Mr. D has an odd sense of humor."

"Mr. D," Reyna repeated, remembering an old story. "Dionysus?"

"That would be him." Chiron agreed, nodding towards the couch. "Please, sit."

She took a seat on the edge of the couch, her braid tickling her spine. Chiron rolled beside her, his eyes filled with some emotion she couldn't figure out- pity? Worry, maybe? Either way, he still tried for a kind smile, but it seemed too forced.

"So, Reyna," He started carefully. "Would you mind telling me where you're from?" She heard the way he picked his words carefully, as if he knew more than he was telling her.

"I don't know, exactly." Reyna answered truthfully. She immediately dove into the story, starting with this morning, and not letting up until the end. The only thing she excluded was her memory of the kids in purple- it seemed to personal to her, as if he might take it.

Chiron nodded, looking intently at the fire. "I see. And am I correct to assume you have questions for me?"

She nodded. "Right now, just one. What did you mean, when you said I should be dead?"

He sighed, before looking at her carefully, as if she was a bomb. "My dear, do you know what those marks on your arm mean? The titles you've been called, the color of your shirt?"

Once again, she shook her head, at a complete loss for words.

"Do you know where you are? What this place is, who I am?"

"You're Chiron the centaur, the same one from the stories. You trained the Greek heroes, like Hercules. This camp… it's for demigods, children of the Gods." Reyna stated.

"And do you believe in the Gods?"

"Yes." Reyna answered immediately. "I mean, they're not amazing people we should worship or anything, but they're around because they're primal forces. They move from country to country as the power shifts- like from Ancient Greece to Rome." She explained. It sounded like an essay answer, even to her. But it must have been acceptable, because Chiron nodded.

"_I couldn't have said it better myself." _Something about the way he talked was different, but she couldn't tell what. "_So you already know the Gods are real. You've probably already been claimed, haven't you?"_

"_Maybe." _ She answered honestly. "_I'm not really sure._"

Chiron was silent, and suddenly Reyna realized what had happened. He had spoken another language, but she had understood perfectly. She even spoke it back, not realizing the transition.

"_Quis erat-" _She started, before cutting herself off and forcing herself to switch back to English.

"What was that?" Reyna questioned.

"You speak Latin," He noted. "Most demigods recognize a few phrases- it's in their blood, but not nearly as much as Greek. None can speak Latin fluently without practice."

There was a silence in the air as Reyna tried to piece together what this meant. But like a mirror shattered, the pieces she had weren't fitting together, and she definitely didn't have all of them. She rubbed her temple. "Can we go back to the part where I'm supposed to be dead?"

" I swore never to speak of it… but yet, here you are, in violation of that oath. Someone like you would never have been allowed to live this long if the gods knew that they were dawning on this camp. This should not be possible. I don't understand. Who would have done such a thing? Who-?"

Chiron stopped talking, freezing in place. Reyna looked over her shoulder, but nothing was there. Standing, she realized that everything was frozen- the arcade game, the clock- the only things that weren't was Reyna and the stuffed-yet-alive leopard.

As the leopard opened his mouth, a white mist began to spill from it. She slid the ring off her finger and felt it expand in her hand, prepared to fight whatever was attacking. As she paused, she realized the mist wasn't hissing- it was whispering one thing, over and over.

_Reyna._


	4. IV

The mist began to form together, sticking like glue. It no longer whispered her name as it grew, taking the shape of a human, before clearing away, melting off of her like steam from an ice cube.

The woman was obviously more than just a woman. She wore dark robes that hid her face, but Reyna could clearly see her eyes, as cold as the moon. A goatskin cloak adorned her shoulders, and she held a gladius in her hands, as if waiting to run her through with it.

_Would you really attack the patron of your… friend? _The woman's voice spoke in her mind, almost patronizing. _Lower your spear._

Swallowing, Reyna did as she asked. "Patron of who? What friend?"

_Our time is limited, Reyna. My prison grows stronger by the hour. It's taken me a month to gain enough energy to work even the smallest magic through its bonds. I've managed to bring you here, but now I have little time left, and even less power. This may be the last time I can speak to you._

"Prison?" She asked, already confused. "I don't even know who you are- or who I am, for that matter."

_You know me. _The woman insisted. Even as she talked, she had no emotion in her voice, as if she needed out, but didn't care if it ever happened.

Reyna wasn't sure how to respond. Something about this woman was ringing a bell, but there was nothing that could give her away. The way she talked superior to her, though, was definitely very god-like.

_Find my prison. Free me, or their king will rise from the earth, and I will be destroyed. You will never receive your memories._

Anger sparked inside her, but she kept it hidden, taking a breath. "You took my memories and now you want me to help you? How am I supposed to trust you?"

The woman seemed to almost chuckle, amused. _Your friend's name was Jason Grace. As for you- you have four short days to find me, on the solstice. You are my champion for now. Do not fail me, Praetor._

With her final words, she melted away, the mist gathering to her and shedding away once again, leaving nothing in her place. Meanwhile, the name pounded in her head- Jason Grace. Even the small bit of information made her head stop pounding, even if his face was still shielded from her memories. All she could see were small images- a flash of blonde hair, twelve long tallies, and a white toga.

Time unfroze all at once, the Pac Man game restarting, and Chiron finishing his sentence. "-Would dare to bring you here, especially if they knew your true identity?"

Reyna turned back to him, walking over. "Probably the goddess."

Chiron looked up in surprise, his brown eyes wide. "Weren't you just sitting… why do you have your spear drawn?"

Grasping her spear tightly, she sighed and set in on the table, before settling back onto her spot on the couch and telling him of the visit. She couldn't bring herself to tell about Jason, feeling as if that information would gain nothing.

"She also mentioned something about being my friend's patron, and that's why I wouldn't hurt her." Reyna told him, biting the inside of her cheek.

Before he could answer, the door burst open, letting in a cold wind. Looking up, Reyna saw that Percy and a girl with curly red hair had burst in, carrying an unconscious Piper between them.

"What happened?" She questioned, crossing the room to her. "What's wrong with her?"

"Hera's cabin," Percy gasped, as if he was running out of air. "Vision. Bad."

The redheaded girl looked up, and Reyna saw that her green eyes were bright red from crying. "I think," she gulped, obviously distressed. "I think I might have killed her."

Chiron, seeing the situation, called off Percy to grab a med kit from down the hall. The red-haired girl introduced herself as Rachel, and Reyna helped grab Piper and lay her on the couch. She was still breathing- it was easy to tell, from the small rise and fall of her chest, her quiet breaths. She seemed to be in some kind of coma.

Watching her, Reyna felt protective over Piper. After all, they had survived the Grand Canyon together. Sure, maybe they weren't actually friends, and everything before had just been a trick. That didn't matter to her- she had to be okay.

Chiron wheeled over and placed a hand on her forehead. "Her mind is in a very fragile state. Rachel, what happened?"

"I wish I knew." She answered, shaking her head as she knelt beside Reyna. "I got back to Camp a little bit ago, and something was odd about Hera's cabin. I went in, and in a few minutes Percy and Piper followed. All of the sudden, I just blanked out, like my mind was unconscious, but my body wasn't. Percy said I was speaking in a different voice."

"A prophecy?" Chiron asked.

"No, not at all. When the Oracle of Delphi speaks, I can feel it coming on. This was like someone just completely took over out of nowhere."

Percy came back into the room, holding a small brown bag. Handing it to Chiron, he looked down at him. "What happened back there, it was nothing I've never seen before. It was creepier than the oracle- not that it isn't creepy, trust me, it is- but it was a woman. She grabbed onto Piper and was yelling at her to-"

"Let me guess," Reyna interrupted, "Free her from prison?"

Percy turned to her, one eyebrow raised, impressed. "How did you know that?"

Shaking his head, Chiron curled three of his fingers and pulled them away from his heart. Although she'd never seen it, it was easy to tell that it was a ward against evil. "Reyna, tell them. Percy, the bag, please."

As she talked, he dropped the medicine into Piper's mouth, his hands moving with expertise, as if he saw comatose patients on the daily.

Once she had stopped talking, the room was eerie. "Please tell me that gods don't always ask for you to bail them out of jail." Reyna commented, hating the stares.

"Patron," Percy repeated, looking to Reyna. "Not godly parent?"

"No, she definitely said Patron."

"I've never heard of a Patron before. You said that storm spirit kid, Dylan, said something about a mistress he had to get back to. Maybe this patron god lady is the same person?"

"I don't think so," Reyna answered honestly. "If she was an enemy, she wouldn't be asking for my help. She was worried about some king rising from the earth on the solstice-"

"Not Kronos. Please tell me it's not him." Percy groaned. "I'm still grounded from that war, you know."

Looking at Chiron, she noticed how absolutely miserable the old centaur looked. He had trained heroes his entire life, and seen almost anything, yet even he seemed unsure of who this threat was. A hand on Piper's wrist, he checked her pulse before answering.

"It is not Kronos." He stated, and Percy and Rachel visibly relaxed. "That threat is ended. But…"

"But what?" Both Reyna and Percy questioned.

"Piper needs rest." Chiron told them tiredly, taking his hand away from her wrist. "We should discuss this later."

"Chiron, you told me the final chapter was coming. Something worse than Kronos. There can't possibly be something worse than an entire army of Titans, can there?" Reyna asked quietly, watching Piper carefully.

Just mentioning the Titans sent a shiver down her spine, once again searching for a memory that should be there, and wasn't. It had gotten old fast, and now was just annoying.

"Oh dear." Rachel spoke up, all eyes flickering to her as she stared in slight horror. "The woman was Hera- her cabin, her voice. She must have showed herself to Reyna at the exact same moment."

Percy's eyebrow raised. "Hera? She did this to Piper, and took you over?"

"I think she's right." Reyna told him, looking up at him. "After all, she is a goddess. She wore a goatskin cloak too- that's the symbol of Juno, isn't it?"

"Juno?" Percy asked. "You mean Hera? I've never heard that."

Chiron nodded uneasily, pausing slightly as if gauging how much he should actually say to them about the situation. She hated not knowing what was going on, especially since Chiron seemed to not be telling them everything. "Of Juno, Hera's Roman aspect, yes. The cloak was the symbol of a Roman soldier, her most warlike state."

Rachel began to talk, but Reyna wasn't listening, instead lost in thought of what that meant, why she only remembered the goddess in her Roman form, instead of the Greek, like everyone else at the camp did. Pushing her braid from her shoulder to her back, she focused back in on the conversation.

"Well, Titans can kidnap gods. We saw it when Atlas captured Artemis and made her hold the sky." Percy rubbed his forehead, as if it brought back bad memories. "Gods can capture other gods, too. But something worse than a Titan…?"

Staring at the different décor in the room, she felt uncomfortable, and the feeling was growing, not lessening. "Hera said she'd been trying to break through the bonds for a month."

"Which is exactly how long Olympus has been closed." He informed, biting his lip. "They must know something bad is going on."

There was another pause, the air filled with a tension as everyone thought of the questions they didn't want the answers to.

"Chiron, do you know what we're up against?" Rachel asked quietly, as if she'd noticed he was holding something back as well.

He seemed to age fifteen years from the time he pulled his eyes off Piper and looked at them. "I apologize, my dears, but this is a matter I cannot help you all with."

"What?" Percy asked, stunned. "But if this helps us get back Reyna's memories, and find Annabeth-"

Chiron cut him off promptly. "I'll be in my office." Stopping at the edge of the room, he looked back to them. "Rachel, watch after the girl, please. Have Argus bring her to the infirmary. Percy, speak with Reyna about the Greek and Roman gods."

Before any of the trio could protest, Chiron had disappeared down the hall, leaving one mildly pissed, one worried, and one utterly lost.

Percy knelt by the coffee table, where Reyna's spear lay. Gently, he leaned over it, looking at it carefully.

"It's gold." He informed, before looking back at her. "Were you a king or something before this? Where did you get it?"

"I don't know." She answered, shrugging.

Percy handed it to Reyna, who gripped it tightly. It shrank back into the ring, with the etched sword and torch on the front. Looking back, he didn't look too surprised, but rather curious. Instead of asking, he sighed. "I really hope this plan isn't as stupid as I think it will be. Rachel, I'm going to take her to Cabin Fifteen. Keep an eye on Piper, will you?"

Rachel nodded, giving Reyna a small smile. "Good luck, you two."

"Hold on," She protested, looking at both of them. "What's in Cabin Fifteen?"

"Maybe a way to get your memory back." He answered.

…

Percy led her around the cabins, into one of the newer wings. Looking at the cabins, it was easy to tell which was which. The red brick one with barbed wire was Mars. The brown, peeling cabin with campers always laughing and yelling was Mercury. Cabin Fifteen, however, was much harder. It was simple, with grey walls and a wreath of red poppies on the doorway.

Looking around the cabins, Reyna couldn't help but feel like she shouldn't be seeing this. Every cabin she walked by seemed to scream danger. Even this one, Fifteen, seemed to whisper to her as she approached. _Enemy. _It said. _You do not belong here._

"You don't think this is my parent's cabin, do you?" Reyna asked, suddenly feeling repulsed by the thought.

"No, not at all. This is Hypnos's cabin- the god of sleep. It's always easy to tell his kids. They usually just zone out for most the tour, and suddenly the sign's hovering above their heads." Percy told her.

Reyna looked up at him strangely. "Well then, why am I here?"

"Because if anyone can bring back memories, it's Hypnos."

Inside, Reyna noticed that there were three kids basically unconscious in the beds, by a warm fire. Violin music played from somewhere, and the entire room smelled like freshly-done laundry. Percy yawned as his knees began to buckle, and she nudged him.

"Sorry." He muttered, shaking his head. "This place is more dangerous than the Ares cabin."

Reyna agreed- it seemed like everything here was dangerous.


	5. V

After stepping into the cabin, Percy headed to the bed directly across from the door, shaking the kid's shoulder. "Clovis, wake up!" The kid, Clovis, didn't move in the slightest. "Clovis!"

"Wh-what?" Clovis yawned, sitting up.

The kid could only have been about five foot zero, with a small tuft of blond hair and a baby face. He looked around fifteen, but he could just have easily been twenty. As he yawned, he looked right at the two of them and caused them to yawn involuntarily.

"We need your help." Percy stated, yawning again. "Quit that!"

"I was _sleeping._" Clovis complained, giving him the expression of an exasperated kindergartener.

"You're always sleeping! Besides, you still owe me from that time you drooled all over me at campfire. I'm cashing in my favor."

"That has expired, but thank you for bringing up that mortifying memory. Good night," He dismissed, before leaning back towards his bed. Before he could, however, Reyna ripped the pillow off the bed.

Almost immediately, the sleepiness began to fade from his expression, leaving him looking much more alert, as if he'd suddenly had a cup of extremely strong coffee. Despite this, he pouted at her, and it took all of Reyna's willpower not to throw the pillow back in his face.

"That's not fair. Give it back." He protested weakly, already knowing he had lost.

"First help." Reyna told him, narrowing her eyes. "Then you can sleep."

Sighing, he looked to Percy. "Fine. What do you want? Make it good, I don't do favors all the time."

Percy told him about Reyna's condition, from the amnesia to waking up on the bus, fighting the spirits, seeing Hera and her message. She thought he was going to fall asleep on her a couple times, but he somehow managed to stay awake.

However, as it got to the part about Hera, he was awake, and no longer needed reminding. Clovis even began to stretch, pulling his arm across his chest.

"So you don't remember anything, huh?"

"Just impressions." Reyna answered truthfully. "Feelings, like…I don't know. I shouldn't be at this camp. I'm in danger."

"Close your eyes." Clovis told her simply.

Obviously uncomfortable, Reyna looked to Percy, who nodded, before sighing and closing her eyes gently. Instantly, it was like she'd stepped in a pit of black quicksand, completely void of all her senses. Then, it cleared, and suddenly, she was standing before a crowd of people.

She wore a purple toga with golden armor, her hair braided behind her back. To her left was boy, his toga also purple. With a shock, she realized that it was Jason. Two metal dogs sat at her heels, one gold, the other silver. Ruby red eyes stood out on both. Clearing her throat, the entire crowd looked to her.

There had to be over two hundred people in all, each one in a purple shirt and armor. As they disbanded, only one stayed behind. He was thin but tall, his arms bony. In his hands was a brown teddy bear, and a few other colors and animals were hung at his belt, pleading for life.

"Reyna, is this really wise?" He questioned, completely disregarding Jason at her side. "The last war games resulted in a death. We cannot afford to lose more soldiers, especially after we lost so many in the war."

Looking at Jason out of the corner of her eye, she could see him smirking. "Octavian, I know what I'm doing. Now fall in your rank." The brunette ordered harshly, his dismissal obvious.

"Yes, Praetor." He spit, using it as an insult, before stalking off. Rolling her eyes as Jason laughed, the pair headed off behind the crowd, keeping a reasonable distance from Octavian.

The next thing she knew, Reyna's eyes were snapping open as she gripped the chair tightly, now sitting by the fire in the Hypnos cabin. Scowling, she stood shakily, uneasy from the vision she had seen.

"-serious, all right," Clovis was saying, his voice no longer muffled.

"What happened?" She demanded, making her way back towards them, and away from the fire. Clovis was now standing, no longer in bed.

"How long was I... out?"

Percy looked to her, his arms crossed over his chest. "About two weeks." He told her seriously, before chuckling. "Four minutes. It was tense, though. You almost dissolved, whatever that means."

She didn't laugh, but instead, looked to Clovis for an explanation. The way he stood tensed by the edge of the bed, she knew that he had one.

"Usually, memories are lost for a good reason. They disappear under the surface, like dreams. With a good sleep, I can usually bring them back. But this…" He trailed off, as if he didn't know how to finish his sentence.

"The River Lethe?" Percy asked solemnly.

"No. Not even Lethe." Clovis answered.

Reyna gave the both of them confused looks, knowing full well that she had no idea what either of them were talking about, and probably wouldn't, even with her memories.

He pointed across the room, where a branch dripped milky liquid into vases, spinning as it fell down. "The river Lethe, in the Underworld. It dissolves your memories, wipes your mind clean permanently. That's a poplar tree dipped into the river, a symbol of my father. Lethe is not a place you want to go swimming."

Percy nodded. "I still don't know why you guys keep that around, but yeah. I've been there before. It's powerful enough to wipe a Titan's mind, take away all of his memories."

"But… that's not my problem, is it?"

"No," Clovis agreed, much to Reyna's relief. "Your mind wasn't wiped, and your memories weren't buried. They've been stolen."

"Um, stolen? By who?"

"A God." He informed, nodding once. "Only an Olympian would have this kind of power, to

take away all your memories and hide them just out of your reach."

Reyna bit her cheek to keep from sighing. "We already knew that. It was Juno."

"Juno? Like the movie?"

"Hera." Percy told him, shrugging. "Reyna seems to prefer the Roman names."

"Hmm," Clovis said.

"Why? Does it mean something?"

"Hmm." He repeated, and this time Reyna realized he was snoring. Even after he'd managed to stay awake the entire time to explain to them the severity of her situation, it apparently still wasn't exciting enough for him. Clenching her teeth, Reyna leaned close to him, before yelling.

"Clovis!"

Jerking awake, he blinked rapidly. "Gods, right! Right. Greek and Roman, right. It could be important."

Frowning, Percy stepped closer. "But why? It's the same Gods. The only thing that changed was their names as they went from Greece to Rome."

"Well… Not exactly."

Reyna suddenly jerked up, looking at him with wide eyes. "What do you mean, not exactly?" For some reason, the news was starting to make sense to her, less jumbled in her mind.

"Some gods are only Roman, like Janus, Pompona, and Bellona. But even the major Gods- it wasn't just their names that changed when they shifted. Their appearances, attributes, and even their personalities changed as well, adapting to the new culture that the Romans had made."

Narrowing his eyes at Clovis, Percy pressed his lips tightly together, like he was thinking hard.

"But just because people saw them a different way, it wouldn't actually change who they were, would it?"

"Sure it does," He murmured sleepily, earning a snap from Reyna. "Coming, Mother! Sorry. So, um, the Gods change to reflect their host countries. That's why Zeus likes tailored suits and reality television. It was just like that during the Roman times, and the center of power was in Rome for almost as long as it was in Ancient Greece. It was a huge empire, lasted for centuries. So of course their Roman aspects are still a big part of their character."

"It makes sense," Reyna agreed. "But how do you know all this?"

"I spend a lot of time dreaming. I see the gods all the time- always shifting forms. Dreams are fluid, you know. You can be in different places at once, always changing identities. Like, I had this dream where I was watching a Michael Jackson concert, then suddenly, I was on stage with him, and I could not remember the words for 'The Girl Is Mine.' Oh, man, it was so embarrassing-"

"Clovis." Reyna stopped him.

"How do you forget the lyrics to that song, anyway?" Asked Percy, earning a look from Reyna.

"Fine. Back to Rome, then."

"Right, Rome. We call the gods their Greek names because that's their original form. But that doesn't mean their Roman aspects are identical to the Greek. In Rome, they were much more powerful, warlike. Harsher, more powerful- the gods of an empire." Clovis explained.

"So, the literal 'evil twin' thing?" He cut in.

"Well, no," Clovis told him. "They stood for discipline, strength, honor-"

"All good things." Reyna told him. For some reason, talking about the Roman and Greek gods made her feel as if her headache was lessening, the knots in her brain were beginning to get less tight.

"I don't understand what this has to do with Reyna." Percy interjected.

"Neither do I." Clovis answered, shrugging. "But if Hera took your memories, only she can give them back. And trust me, if I had to meet the queen of the gods and ask for a favor, I'd hope she'd be in more of a Hera mood than a Juno mood."

With that, Reyna gave him back his pillow, and he fell asleep almost instantly, head into the pillow, butt in the air.

"Will he suffocate like that?" Reyna asked.

Percy shook his head. "Nah, he'll be okay. I think. But at the moment, I'm a little more worried about you."

…

As soon as they had stepped out of the Hypnos cabin, a conch sounded, causing the steady stream of noise coming from the cabins to cease. Doors swung open, and campers poured out like water from a faucet, all heading towards the dining pavilion.

"Time for dinner." Percy informed, leading her towards the center of camp.

In the time they'd taken in the Hypnos cabin, the sky had started to get dark. Due to this, torches lit the way to the pavilion, each one different colors- blue, green, yellow, and even black.

The dining pavilion was like most summer camps, with wooden tables all over. However, these tables were longer, with a symbol carved into the middle. A long, straight table was in the front, and bronze fire pits blazed in different spots all around. Watching the cabins sit down rowdily, Reyna realized that Percy had been talking, while she'd been looking around and not listening.

"-you'll have to sit with the Hermes kids, for now." He told her, pointing towards the biggest table. "I'll be over here if you need me."

Taking a seat on the edge, Reyna watched the way that the nearest kid acted. She had to be only seven or eight years old, with long brown hair and bright green eyes, a few freckles sprayed across her nose. The girl put a small portion of food on her plate, before standing and moving to the brazier. Copying her, Reyna watched as she scooped some of her food to the fire, muttering "Hermes," along with the others.

Scooping off a chunk of bread and half a pork chop, she prayed silently. _To my parent. Please, just help me remember. Where I'm from, why I'm here- anything._

Settling back into her seat, Reyna jumped as someone touched her arm- the girl from before.

"Hi." She greeted, smiling wide, and revealing a missing bottom tooth.

"Hello." Reyna replied, her voice even.

"You're Reyna, aren't you?" She asked, glancing at her forearm, where the tattoo stood out. "Everyone's talking about you, but they just call you Reyna. Why don't you have a last name?"

Pursing her lips, Reyna tried to figure out how to reply to that. As she opened her mouth, the words poured out, and she couldn't stop them. "My full name is Reyna Avila Ramirez Arellano."

She blinked, realizing that the words she had spoken was true. Turning to look back at the bronze brazier, she shook her head in disbelief. Somehow, her parent had heard her, giving her the memory of her name. "Thanks." She murmured quietly to her parent, feeling a small spark of hope.


	6. VI

"No, silly, that's three names." The girl giggled. "My name is Jackie Roberts. See? Only one last name."

"Avila is my middle name," Reyna explained, feeling with a strange certainty that she'd had this conversation before. "Ramirez and Arellano are my last names."

Jackie nodded, her brown hair bobbing. Before she could ask another question, the girl beside her touched her arm lightly. "Jackie, let her eat. She's had a long day."

"But Anna…" Jackie complained, making doe eyes at the older girl- Anna. She gave Reyna a 'sorry' look, before shaking her head.

"Let her be." Reyna nodded once in thanks, before finally starting to eat. Even as she did, her mind raced back and forth.

Her parent had heard her, then. They'd given her that little piece of information, no matter how useless it was. Maybe they would claim her at campfire- after all, that was what Percy and Rachel had both been saying. But what if she wasn't claimed? Staring at her fork, Reyna realized she'd been lost in thought for a good five minutes.

"Boo!" Someone called in her ear, causing her to jump and the fork to fly, landing on the table with a small clink. Leo slid in the seat across from her, laughing hard enough to shake the wood table."Man, you should have seen your face. That is how you play a joke on someone."

Smacking his arm, Reyna rolled her eyes. "Whatever, Leo. What are you doing over here? Shouldn't you be with the rest of the Vulc- Hephaestus cabin?"

Leo looked down and shrugged, and Reyna noticed the half transparent machine grease on his hands, as if he'd tried to scrub them clean and failed. "Probably. I can't subject them to too much of this sexiness in one day- they might burn up."

Rolling her eyes again, she saw Chiron stand up from his place at the table, clicking a fork to his glass to grab everyone's attention. She turned back to Leo to scold him, but by the time she turned her head, she saw him slipping back in with the Hephaestus table.

Out of all of the tables, his was extremely diverse. Nearly every kid had a different ethnicity, and even the few who shared had different hair colors. However, they all had muscular arms, as well as bandages and casts, even a few stitches all over their skin, as if they had all been mugged right before dinner.

"Campers, please, if I could have your attention," Chiron called, causing the pavilion to quiet and shift their eyes to the Centaur. "As most all of you know, we have three new campers joining us. Leo Valdez, son of Hephaestus."

At this, the entire hall applauded, a few giving small shouts. It was strange- it gave her a feeling of euphoria, but also a pang of wrongness. She felt homesick and weirded out all at once.

"Piper McLean, unclaimed, who is resting in the infirmary," He continued, followed by another, but less enthusiastic round of shouting, most likely due to her absence. From the Aphrodite table, Drew rolled her eyes and clapped sarcastically.

"And lastly, Reyna," Chiron met her eyes. "Whom as of now, is not claimed."

The campers cheered, but Reyna noticed the gleam in his eye, and she could tell he knew something. As much as she was angered that he didn't trust her with it, she had to wonder if there was a reason for his secrecy.

"We will talk about the Capture-the-Flag situation later. As for now, you can all head down to campfire." Chiron dismissed, and people began to trickle out. The Hermes table was all gone nearly immediately, leaving Reyna sitting alone.

She didn't mind the solitude. She had a feeling that it wasn't a new emotion to her. It felt comforting, being able to sit and not think about anything for a few moments. It lasted a solid ten seconds before she felt someone move behind her. "Leo, what are-" She started, before trailing off. The presence wasn't Leo after all, but Percy. "Sorry."

He shook his head. "Don't worry about it." As she looked up at him, it was as if her mind was burning. She remembered him from somewhere, before she'd lost her memory. That much she could tell. Although she wondered if her mind was playing a trick on her, because he didn't seem to remember her in the slightest.

"C'mon, campfire's actually fun sometimes." Percy told her, a smile on his face. "They have s'mores."

Although the thought of the snack didn't make it any more appealing, Reyna got up anyways, glancing at her own purple shirt, the tattoo on her arm. The shirt was worn well, with a few burns on the hem and a hole or two. Déjà vu settled over her, for the seven hundredth time that day. She really wished she knew what the hell was going on.

The campfire was exactly how it sounded. Campers filled an amphitheater, once again assembled under banners of their parents. The atmosphere was easy going, laid back, as if they were just normal kids at a summer camp. However, the flames they sat around were not normal. They shifted from blue to red to orange, even to gold as the singing got louder.

Reyna had never liked to sing, that much she was sure of.

Although all of the kids were strictly under their own banner, Chiron had made an acception of her, allowing her to sit with Percy. The entire time he cracked jokes and sang nasally, trying to lighten the mood.

Halfway through, Piper was marched in by the redhead, Rachel. They sat by Chiron on the opposite side of the pavilion, but still close enough that Reyna could make her out. Leo was with his siblings, in the middle. Once again, they had been separated. Reyna didn't like it at all. She felt like she was responsible for them, like she had to keep them safe.

After they had finished the final song, Chiron marched up to the fire. His curly brown hair ran rampant, his beard close cropped, and stained with fluff from the marshmallows that adorned his spear. "Very nice! Now that we have all of our new campers here, I'd like to formally say welcome. I am Chiron, the camp activities director. I'm glad you all made it here alive, and relatively unharmed."

Every pair of eyes seemed to be trained on Piper, Reyna, or Leo, with only a few wanderers, like Percy, who was much too focused on his s'more to care about an announcement. One of them, however, yelled out, drawing back the attention to Chiron. "Capture the Flag?"

He shook his head, causing many of the campers to groan. "I know you all- especially the Ares cabin- are itching for another game. However, until the dragon is brought under control, we can't continue. Cabin Nine, anything to report on that?"

A girl with an American Flag bandana stood. Leo paid her virtually no attention, as he had made eye contact with Piper and Reyna, and set about distracting them by shooting them with a finger gun. The girl spoke, and Leo finally put away his 'gun'. "We're working on it."

"How, Nyssa?" Someone shouted- a kid from Mars.

"Really hard." Nyssa stated, earning a few groans from the crowd again. They began to yell and complain, loud enough to make her hard of hearing and turn the fire orange.

Chiron stamped his hoof on the ground, effectively cutting off the complainers. "We have to be patient," He scolded. "As for the present, we have a few more important matters to discuss."

The crowd was silent for three beats, before someone yelled out, this time much quieter. "Annabeth?"

The name seemed to echo like it had been screamed. The reaction on Percy was almost instant. His small grin had faded from his lips, leaving him looking tired, and much older than sixteen. Even the black of his hair, the green of his eyes seemed to be less intense.

The fire dimmed to a dark blue, and Chiron beckoned for Percy to rise. Doing so, he made his way to the centaur, taking a deep breath.

"I haven't found Annabeth yet." He informed, his voice cracking a little when he spoke her name. "She wasn't at the Grand Canyon. I've got everyone we know out looking- Grover, Tyson, Nico, the Hunters of Artemis- everyone is out looking. We _will_ find her."

Instantly, it was as if the campers had been told that their birthday party was cancelled. Anxious and distraught faces surrounded her. She wondered, for a split second, if anyone back home had noticed that she was gone, much less cared.

It was a bitter thought, however, and she let it go quickly.

"Chiron is talking about something different, though." Percy told them, looking out over the crowd of faces. "He's talking about a new quest."

"It's the Great Prophecy, isn't it?" A girl's voice asked.

Everyone seemed to turn and look at her, as if they weren't sure if she had actually spoken. When the girl was located, Reyna realized that it was Drew, who had been picking at her nails and adjusting her makeup the entire time. She must not have addressed the crowd often, because most of them looked stunned that she could speak.

"What do you mean?" Percy asked, eyes narrowing.

"Well, come on," Drew said, flipping her dark hair over her shoulder, like it was obvious. "Olympus is closed up, Annabeth is suddenly missing. Then the vision from Hera, and then three new demigods all showing up in one day. This is the opposite of normal. The Great Prophecy has started, hasn't it?"

All eyes seemed to fall on Rachel expectantly. She was staring at the fire, looking completely distant from the situation. She wondered if she'd even been listening. Her green eyes were now reflecting the violet, making her expression unreadable.

"Yes." She told them, looking up. "The Great Prophecy has begun."

Chaos broke out. People were yelling and shouting. The Ares cabin looked almost happy, but the rest of the campers were a mix of shock, terror, anger, and even a few tears. Rachel stood and made her way up to Percy, and after a few minutes, the commotion died down.

"I know it's scary, but we have to focus. For those who have not yet heard it, the Great Prophecy was my first prediction. It goes like this: Eight half bloods shall answer the call, to storm or fire the world must fall-"

As soon as she heard the words, Reyna felt as if her finger had been shoved into an electric socket. She was on her feet, looking down to Rachel. She must have looked completely insane, standing in the middle of the prphecy.

"Uh, R-Reyna?" Rachel called, staring at her. "What-"

She couldn't explain it, but those lines had triggered something in her, had placed another two in its place. It came with a surge of images- purple shirts, tattoos, a large, golden eagle, and a purple banner that read SPQR.

The words tumbled out of her mouth. "Ut cum spititu postrema sacramentum dejuremus," she chanted, her voice solid. "Et hostes ornamenta addent ad ianuam nectum."

Reyna realized that everyone was staring at her, trying to translate what she had said. A few under a grey banner with an owl muttered in shock, shaking their heads. Why the words had came in Latin, she was unsure.

"You just… You just finished the prophecy." Rachel confirmed, sending a wave of mutters through the crowd. "-An oath to keep with a final breath/And foes bear arms to the Doors of Death. How did you…"

"I know those lines." Reyna told her, rubbing her temples to stop the massive headache that had followed the images. "I don't know how, or why, but I know that prophecy."

Sitting back down carefully, she knew that every pair of eyes was locked on her. Turning over her forearm to stare at the tattoo, she furrowed her brow, trying to figure out why she knew them, what the images that had accompanied them meant.

The others were doing this as well, she could tell.

The oracle looked shaky, but managed to continue. "Well, that's the prophecy. We hoped it would be years until it would start again, but I fear that it has begun now. I can't give you proof, or explain it. It's just a feeling. Like Drew said, some weird things are happening. The eight demigods of the prophecy, whoever they may be, have not yet gathered. I get the feeling some are here tonight. Others are not here."

People stirred again, whispering back and forth in rapid succession. Reyna wasn't focused on the crowd, but on Chiron, who was looking at her with a mix between pity and sadness. She'd never admit it, but it scared her.

"Anyways," Rachel continued, "We don't know what the Great Prophecy means. We don't know what challenges the demigods will face, but since the first Prophecy predicted the Titan War, I can only guess that the second will be something at least that bad."

"Or worse." Chiron murmured, his voice carrying much farther than he intended.

"What we do know is that the first phase has begun. The Queen of the Gods, Hera, has been taken. " Another interruption insued, even though this was already known. Afterwards, Rachel went on about what had happened to Reyna, Piper, and Leo, from the Grand Canyon to the visions.

Meanwhile, Piper caught her eye. You ok? She mouthed. Nodding, Reyna wasn't sure if it was a lie or not. Her skull was pounding, like someone was trying to hammer their way out.

Finally, Rachel reached the part about what Hera had told both Piper and Reyna, demanding to be freed from her prison. It led in a few murmurs, and Drew making fun of Piper, but since Piper didn't seem to care, she let it go.

"Reyna- er, do you know your last name?" Rachel questioned, becoming her up. "Ramirez-Arellano." She told her simply.

"Well, Reyna Ramirez-Arellano, it seems that Hera has issued you a quest to save her from her prison, if you decide to take it."

The stares were overwhelming, but she somehow knew how to handle it with grace, not to let them influence her decision. You will never receive your memories without my help. Juno's voice chided. Jason's face flashed once again, and she sighed.

"I agree. I accept this quest."


	7. VII

Every pair of eyes were focused on Reyna. She kept her face smooth, something that took next to no effort. The thought made her stomach churn at the idea. She couldn't even remember who she was, and now she was going to be in charge of leading two others to save Hera.

"You must save Hera to prevent a great evil, to stop some king from rising." Rachel announced, half to her, half to the campers. "For reasons we don't know, it must happen by the winter solstice. That's four days from now."

"That's the day of the council of the gods," Percy told her, crossing his arms over his chest. "If they don't already know Hera's gone, they will then. That, of course, will cause the usual argument of who did it."

She heard a tone of bitterness under his words, as if he had experienced this firsthand. Of course, he probably had.

"The winter solstice is also the time of great darkness." Chiron told them, his face ghostly in the firelight. "The gods gather that day, as mortals always have, because there is strength in numbers. The solstice is a day when evil magic is strong. Ancient magic, older than the gods… it begins to stir."

"Thank you, Centaur Sunshine." Percy muttered.

Rachel gave the both of them a look, one that clearly told him to stop talking.

"Whatever is going on, it's not the matter now. Reyna has been chosen to lead this quest, so that means-"

There were a few murmurs, before someone from the Ares cabin stood, yelling out at them.

"Why hasn't she been claimed, then?" He asked. "Especially if she's so important."

Reyna couldn't help but agree- If she was so important to get a quest in her first day at camp, then why hadn't she been claimed yet? Of course, she wasn't going to give the camper the satisfaction of seeing her ask herself that same question.

To her surprise, Chiron spoke up. "She has been claimed. It was a long time ago, but nevertheless. Markus, come help her demonstrate."

Reyna felt her own eyebrows knit together in confusion. Demonstrate? The kid who had shouted out, Markus, stepped down to the center, one of his siblings handing him a sword. He'd obviously understood what he had meant by 'demonstration'.

The pair of them both stepped forward, in full view of the campers. Markus held up the sword and paused for a half second, before lunging forward at her.

Before she could even think, Reyna plucked the ring off her finger and gripped it, and in seconds she had a golden spear, the handhold sticking to her grasp easily. As he swung at her, she rolled under, missing the blade and getting back up on her feet.

The hard part was that while he had the sword, she only had a spear. It was harder to control, but easier to move her momentum. Markus was eager to attack, while she was more defensive. She had to use it to her advantage.

Swinging again, Reyna caught his blade on her hilt and slammed it upwards, trying to disarm him. It failed, however, and only made him wobble. Muttering a curse in Latin, she stepped back.

When he lunged forward, this time she met him, his blade hitting hers. Twisting hard, she grabbed his arm and pulled him hard, flipping him over her shoulder and onto the ground hard. She had his own sword at his throat, and her spear in her other hand.

It took her a moment to realize what she had done. The fight had lasted only a minute long, and most of the campers looked stunned, but it wasn't until she let him up that she realized why. Markus towered over her, at nearly six feet, and was completely built. It was obvious that he'd been training non stop of years, and she shouldn't have been able to beat him at such a close range.

"Daughter of Ares?" Someone asked, calling in the silence. "Or Athena?" Another put in.

"Neither." Chiron spoke, once again. "Her mother isn't one of the Olympians. Her godly parent is Bellona, goddess of war."

A pin drop could have been heard. Reyna heard her heartbeat loudly three times, before the shouting began.

"Goddess of War?" "Isn't that Ares?" "Who's Bellona?" "That's not a Greek goddess!" "What is going on here?"

Chiron stamped his hooves once again, and the theater went quiet. "Bellona is in fact the goddess of War. She was a Roman goddess, like Janus or Pompona."

There were a few more arguments, most asking how she could be a Roman. They used the word like a disease, like it was something to be ashamed of. However, Reyna refused to lower her head. Bellona was her mother- and even if she didn't remember much- she wouldn't disappoint her.

Meeting Piper's eyes, she gave a smile to Reyna, nodding once in approval. Leo gave her a thumbs up, mouthing something that looked suspiciously like 'hot damn dude'.

"The important thing is that Reyna is here now." Rachel announced, cutting off a Hermes kid. "She has a quest to fulfill, and for that, she'll need a prophecy."

Closing her eyes, the redhead swooned, and two campers rushed forward, catching her just before her head would have hit the dirt. Another pulled over a stool, and they managed to slide her onto it, as if this were an everyday occurrence.

Instantly, it was like someone had hit a button. Green mist surrounded her as she opened her eyes, which were glowing green. The same mist spilled from her mouth as it opened, the voice that talked much deeper and raspier than Rachel's.

"Child of War, beware the earth,

The Giant's revenge the eight shall birth,

The forge and the dove shall break the cage,

And death unleash through Hera's rage."

After the last words were out of her mouth, Rachel collapsed. The helpers grabbed her shoulders and pulled her into the corner, where they laid her down to rest.

Meanwhile, the words were sinking in with Reyna.

"Is that normal?" A voice asked into the silence. Piper. "I mean… does she spew green smoke a lot?"

"Gods, you're dense!" Drew sneered. "She just issued a prophecy- Reyna's prophecy to save Hera! Why don't you just-"

"Drew!" Percy interrupted, frowning at her. "It was a fair question. Something wasn't right about that prophecy. If Hera is just going to turn on her saviors... why free her?"

Many people paused, considering his words. A few agreed immediately with him, while a few hesitated, and a few more disagreed.

"I don't have much of a choice." Reyna said, looking up from her feet. "Hera took my memories, and she doesn't intend to give them back unless I free her. This amnesia thing isn't fun- besides, I need my memory. I can't just not help the queen of the gods when she's in trouble, or I'm going to be clueless for the rest of my life."

Nyssa, the girl from Leo's cabin, shrugged as she stood. "Maybe. But you should listen to Percy. Hera is vengeful at times. She threw her own son- our dad- off of Olympus just because he was ugly."

A comment from the Aphrodite cabin made a few people snicker, but Nyssa ignored it. "We've also got to think- why beware the earth? And what's the giants' revenge? What are we dealing with here that's powerful enough to imprison Hera?"

Nobody answered, but Chiron and Percy seemed to be having a silent disagreement, using a lot of facial expressions and motions. It was over quickly.

"It's Reyna's quest, nobody can argue that. She's obviously the child of war. That means she gets to choose her two companions. You can pick anyone you want, according to tradition." Percy explained, breaking the silence.

"Obviously you, Percy." Someone from the Apollo cabin called. "You have the most experience out of any of us."

He shook his head, shaking his dark hair out of his eyes. "Sorry, but I'm out on this one. Hera and I aren't on the best of terms, especially recently. Besides, I'm heading out to look for Annabeth tomorrow."

She saw the flash of dedication in his eyes, and she knew immediately that there was no way that he was going to be persuaded to do anything besides go look for his missing girlfriend.

"It's all connected," Piper broke in, looking rather embarrassed to have all eyes on her again. "You know it's true, don't you? This whole Hera thing, your girlfriend's disappearance- it's connected."

"How?" Drew questioned, rolling her eyes. "If you're smart enough to figure that out, prove it."

Piper looked a little miffed that she couldn't figure out how, but before Reyna could stick up for her, Percy broke in.

"You may be right, Piper. If it is, I'm going to find out by finding Annabeth. Besides, there's another reason I can't go. The prophecy says otherwise."

"It says I pick." Reyna agreed. Although it would have been nice to have someone who knew what they were doing, she still had an uneasy feeling about Percy. "The forge and the dove shall break the cage. The forge is the symbol of Vulcan- or, uh, Hephaestus. The god of fire, whatever."

Nyssa looked up, her bandanna beginning to droop. "If you have to beware the earth, then you'll need air transport. Cars are out of the question, unless you can find a flying one. The flying chariot is broken, and the pegasi are out of commission. Maybe we can figure something out. With Jake injured, I'm senior counselor. I can volunteer for the quest."

Nyssa's words made sense, but Reyna was reluctant to let her in. It didn't feel right, but mostly, she didn't want to lead her off a cliff, with a whole cabin depending on her.

Then, Leo stood up. He had been completely silent the whole time, and even though she had only known him for a few hours, she knew it wasn't like him at all.

"It's me." He stated.

A few of the other campers tried to make him sit back down, but he waved them off. "No, it's me. I know it is. I've got an idea for the transportation problem. Let me try. Please- I can fix this!"

Reyna knew it was up to her. On one hand, he had no experience with fighting, was brand new to camp, and could die out on a quest. On the other, he was good at building things, she trusted him, and it wasn't as if she wasn't new to camp, either.

She pursed her lips, before her eyes softened, and she nodded. "Find us a ride, and you're in."

He pumped his fist in the air. "Yes!"

"Then all that's left is the last member." Percy told her. "The dove is a symbol of Aphrodite, so-"

Drew cut him off with a flourish of her hand. "Oh, absolutely!" She smiled prettily at Reyna. "I am totally in for this. I'm senior counselor, after all."

Reyna bit the inside of her cheek. She didn't like the idea of Drew tagging along, especially since she had pitted Mitchell against her, as if she was lying about her memory. Not to mention the way that she'd volunteered- it made her wonder what was in the quest for her.

"No." Piper argued, standing.

"Oh please, dumpster girl. Sit back down, will you?"

"I had the vision of Hera. I have to do this." Piper responded.

"Anyone can have a vision!" Drew exclaimed, one hand raised for emphasis. "It's a right place right time sort of thing. Look, fighting is okay, I suppose." She said, looking at Reyna. "And people who build things… Well, I suppose someone has to do the dirty work. But you need charm on your side. I can be very persuasive- I could help a lot."

Instantly, campers began to nod, as if Drew was the perfect member for the quest. Even Percy, who couldn't stand her, and Chiron, looked as if they agreed with her.

However, Reyna found herself still not wanting Drew to come along. It was if she was manipulating all these people, putting them all in some kind of weird trance to let her go. Frowning, she heard one word whispered in her mind. Charmspeak.

"Well… given the wording of the prophecy-" Percy began, before he was cut off by an angry Piper.

"No!" Piper called, regaining everyone's attention. "I'm supposed to go."

Once again, everyone began to say that Piper's participation made sense. Reyna blinked, realizing that Piper must have the power as well. But charmspeak only came from two goddesses- one of whom used it effortlessly, and one who used it for manipulation.

"Get over it!" Drew shouted. "What can Piper do?"

Piper stayed silent, silent fury on her face. A spark of anger flashed through her, but Reyna knew better then to act on it. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Percy looking at her strangely.

Just as she opened her mouth to speak, there was a flash of pink, and everyone gasped at what it had left behind.

Piper, with her choppy hair and snowboarding jacket, had gotten a makeover. She wore a white gown decorated with gold, dozens of jewels, and a pair of sandals. Makeup had been applied beautifully, and her hair had been braided down the side with gold strands.

Noticing all the stares she was receiving, she pulled a knife out of it's sheath, one that Reyna didn't know she'd had. Glancing into the mirror, her mouth dropped open in terror.

Meanwhile, Reyna felt sick to her stomach. The golden strands in the braid, the long dresses, the makeup and flowers… at the same time it was foreign in this setting, it was still familiar. Her head was pounding hard, much worse than it had before.

"What the…" Piper trailed off, looking like she was in the middle of a horror movie.

As Chiron ordered everyone to stand, Reyna gripped onto her spear, using it to keep her upright.

"Hail, Piper McLean," Chiron announced. "Daughter of Aphrodite, lady of the doves, goddess of love."

From there, the crowd began to spill out, and before she could find them, Leo and Piper had both disappeared. Her hands were shaking, and she felt like she'd contracted a fever.

Percy walked over to her, looking concerned. "Reyna, are you alright? You look like you're going to throw up."

"I don't know." She told him, her knuckles white. She looked terrible, completely pale and shaking like a leaf. "Something about the way Piper was dressed- I don't know."

Balancing her weight, Reyna shrank her spear back into its ring form, slipping it onto her finger shakily. She started to walk forward, but it was as if her legs had turned to jelly, and she nearly fell over. Luckily, she managed to steady herself.

"This is strange." Percy told her, pressing his lips together. "We need to get you to Chiron, especially since you need to leave tomorrow."

Just as he opened his mouth to call for the centaur, Reyna felt herself falling. Percy caught her, and everything faded to black.


	8. VIII

Sometime later, Reyna began to dream.

At least, it was probably a dream. However, the feel of the wind on her skin, blowing her hair around her shoulder, definitely didn't feel dreamlike. She turned on her heel to get a better look, before noticing the trees that surrounded her.

It was the redwoods, she was sure. A misty rain was pouring down on her, pasting her purple shirt to her skin. As she looked into the woods, she realized that a pack of grey wolves stood the perimeter, all pointing her in the direction of a ruined house. They were snarling, each one locking eyes with her. She followed, not wanting to be eaten.

They led her into the house, which was even more destroyed then she realized. The columns had all but fallen, most of the remaining wreckage burned, and the grass had been dead for centuries before. The courtyard had once been stunningly beautiful, but now it resembled a horror movie mansion. Yet, this place was familiar to Reyna.

The pool had been drained, but a cloud of mist covered the bottom, making it impossible to tell how deep it was. Reyna stopped at the edge of the pool, the wolves finally spreading apart and abandoning her.

One wolf waited at the other side of the pool. She was the largest, and had glowing red eyes that seemed much too aware. She seemed to be almost waiting for her to speak.

"I've been here before." Reyna spoke.

_Of course_. She said. _You began your journey here when you were twelve years of age, just a young pup. Now you have to find your way back. A new quest, a new start_.

Reyna wanted to protest, but she knew better. Memories were starting to come back to her. This was Lupa, the mother wolf, the greatest of her kind. When Reyna had been led to her, she'd taken her in, trained her, and taught her how to control her powers, before sending her off. Where, however, hadn't come back to her.

"Can you guide me?" Reyna asked.

Lupa didn't answer, but rather stalked around the edge of the pool. Reyna followed, her footsteps as silent as the wolf's. A deep rumbling growl came from between the wolf's canines, and the mist cleared.

At the bottom was a cage. It seemed to be rock and dirt, the bars made of heavy rocks, the bottom of soft dirt. It seemed easy, until she noticed the vines. They were covered in thorns, wrapped around the ceiling and the bars, keeping the prisoner in. Squinting, she finally made out the figure.

"Hera." She murmured.

Lupa nodded solemnly. _The enemy has chosen this place to awaken her most powerful son, the giant king. Our sacred place, where demigods are claimed- the place of life or death. The burned house. The house of the wolf. It is an abomination, and you must stop her. Our end cannot interfere. I cannot speak of this with Ja- with any of the legion._

"Her… You mean Hera?" Reyna asked.

_Use your senses, pup. I care nothing for Juno, but if she falls, out enemy wakes. And that will be the end for all of us. You know this place. You can find it again. Cleanse our house. Stop this before it is too late_.

Reyna pushed her wet hair out of her face, seeing her own breath in the cold. There were bumps of earth and rock surrounding them, seemingly growing as time went on. Shivering at the thought, she looked back to Lupa.

"Who am I?" She asked, her lips pressed together tightly. "Please- at least tell me that."

Lupa curled her lip, as if putting together an answer. _You're the sorcerer's attendant turned warrior, of course. Do not fail, daughter of Bellona._

Reyna woke up staring at a peeling blue ceiling.

Pulling herself up into a sitting position, she realized that someone had brought her to a bed. The room was small and void of decoration, with only enough room for the bed, dresser, and desk that were present. After she'd passed out, someone must have brought her back to the Big House.

A pile of clean clothes was stacked onto the dresser- an orange Camp Half-Blood shirt, a pair of black jeans, and some sneakers. As much as she needed a change of clothes, she was reluctant to take off her purple shirt. The gold SPQR was coated in blood, the sleeves stained with ichor. But it felt like a part of her, and she didn't want to give it up.

It's just a shirt, she reminded herself, and changed quickly.

Running a comb through her dark hair, she found a spair hair tie around her wrist and braided her hair down her back. It felt familiar, weaving the strands between each other, and was strangely comforting.

Glancing at herself in the mirror, Reyna didn't see her own reflection. Instead, she saw a much younger girl, dressed nearly identical to how Piper had been yesterday after she'd been claimed. She wore a white dress, her hair braided with gold, and had golden jewelery around her neck, fingers, and ears.

Stepping back, she realized that it was her, but a much younger version.

Reyna shook her head, slinging her backpack over her shoulder and pushing open her door, heading out into the hall. As she started to head down the stairs, she noticed the one door at the end of the hallway, standing wide open.

She should have kept going down the stairs, but something in the room caught her eye. Backing up, Reyna slipped into the room.

Instantly, the smell of dirt and moss hit her. There was an old, rusty stool in the corner of the room, and seemed to be the only part of the room that wasn't covered in large tables. On every table were random bits and pieces- bent swords, burned shields, a scarf, an old baseball bat, and even a necklace.

In the very back, however, was a board filled with photos. There had to be at least a hundred pictures, each with a small white tag attached. They were packed with dust, as if nobody had looked at it in years.

Wiping off a photo revealed that it was a girl with dark hair and bright eyes. She looked like a mix between goth and badass- dark eyeliner, ripped jeans, and a leather jacket. Just glancing at it eerily reminded her of someone.

"That's Thalia," a voice spoke. Turning on her heel, she saw Percy standing in the doorway, a backpack slung over his shoulder. He didn't look mad that she was in here, to her surprise.

"I feel like I've seen her before." Reyna murmured.

"You might've. She's a Huntress of Artemis- a group of girls that travel around and fight monsters. Immortal forever and all that jazz." Percy explained, shrugging. "I'd guess you were from there, but they're not missing anyone."

Reyna pursed her lips, staring at the photo. Maybe it wasn't the girl that looked familiar, but the color of her eyes, the shape of her lips, the sharp cheekbones…

"What's her last name?"

He scratched the back of his neck. "She never used one. Her mother's was Grace, though."

Grace.

Jason Grace.

Reyna almost dropped the picture. Percy must have caught on, because he looked at her curiously. "What?"

It was strange. Just from seeing this picture of his sister, knowing his name- it felt like a switch had flicked on in her brain. She could see him clearly now, unlike in all of her dreams. He had close cropped blonde hair, electric blue eyes, and 'chaos within order' personality.

Handing over the photo, she pressed her lips together into a thin line. "I know her brother. Jason. We were partners for… something. Something important."

Percy shook his head. "She doesn't have any siblings… But then again, I wouldn't know if she did. Thalia hated to talk about her life before camp."

The brunette nodded once. "I'm positive."

He just shook his head again. "You could be right." The son of Poseidon stepped into the room, looking out the mossy window. "I really wish everything could have waited to go haywire." He murmured.

Reyna agreed readily.

"Speaking of that, I had a dream last night." Despite the fact that she felt like she shouldn't trust Percy, she did it anyways, pushing away the feelings of hatred and contempt. They weren't important.

"Redwoods- that sounds like California. As for Lupa… I've never heard of her. She's not Greek, I can tell you that much. Bellona isn't Greek either, though." Percy mused, biting his cheek in concentration.

She sighed in frustration, placing her head in her hands. "Where am I even supposed to go?"

Percy looked over to her, placing a gentle hand on her shoulder. "Follow the monsters. Don't worry too much about this quest, Reyna. I have a feeling that it's not your first, even if you can't remember the others."

She looked up, sighing. "The monsters- the wind spirits. They would have gone back to a wind god. Which one is the closest to New York?"

Percy thought about it for a moment. "Probably Boreas, in Quebec."

A spark sounded in Reyna, and she had to pause a moment to sense it. It was almost like hope- but much quieter. Glancing back at the photo, she set it down gingerly.

"Where is Thalia now, anyways?" She asked.

Just as his mouth opened, a loud roar cut him off, sending the Big House shaking and almost making them lose their balance. They met eyes, and before she knew it, they were racing out of the room and out the front door of the big house.

A bronze dragon a and a hoard of angry campers waited for them outside. The dragon was huge, with ruby red eyes and rows of sharp metal teeth. On his back was Leo, who was grinning crazily and holding on casually to the dragon, as if it were a van.

An Ares girl- Clarisse, according to the back of her jacket- held up a spear, glaring angrily at the dragon, as if it had offended her. "That thing is dangerous! We need to kill it now!"

"Stand down!" Reyna ordered, her voice sharp and demanding, like a drill sergeants. Despite the fact she'd only been at camp for a few hours, she must have been commanding enough, because they listened, lowering their weapons. "Leo, what have you done?"

"I found a ride!" Leo told her, his crazy grin never faltering. "You said I could come if I got us a ride, remember? Well, I got us a top of the line, one of a kind, Class A flying dragon. Festus can take us anywhere."

Nyssa, who had been hidden in the crowd, stepped forward. "It- It has _wings_." She stammered, staring at the dragon in shock.

"Yeah. I found them and re-attached them." He answered quickly, obviously hiding something.

"Leo, it never had wings. Where did you find them?"

Reyna could have sworn that Leo looked guilty for a second, but it was replaced in seconds by his grin. "Uh, in the woods. I repaired his circuits, mostly, so there's not much of a chance of him running haywire anymore! Just a few more kinks to work out."

As if on queue, the dragon listed his head to the side, and black oil poured out, staining the front of Leo's ratty old shirt. He didn't look the slightest bit phased, shaking the grease out of his hair and laughing.

"How did you survive? I mean, the fire breath…" Nyssa trailed off, staring in awe.

He shrugged her off, avoiding the subject. "I'm lucky, and fast. Now, am I on this quest or what?" Wiping his hands off on his pants, Leo beamed at Reyna and Piper.

"You named him Festus?" Reyna asked, her eyebrow quirking. "That means 'Happy' in Latin. You want us to fly off to save the Queen of the Gods on Happy the Dragon?"

The dragon twitched, and Leo nodded. "That's a yes! We should go now, though- I have some stuff from the, uh, woods already. Besides, all the weapons are making him nervous."

"Leave? Already?" Piper asked, looking startled. "But we haven't planned anything yet."

"Go," Percy interrupted, looking slightly amused, slightly somber. "You've got a ride, Reyna knows where you're headed, it's a good omen. Go."

Reyna took one last look at the camp, her eyes scanning the landscapes. She hated to leave so soon, but a part of her was relieved that she would be out and back into the open, away from this camp, where everything seemed to want her gone.

Shouldering her pack, she turned to Piper. "Ready?"

Piper nodded determinedly. "Of course. Let's go save Hera on Happy the Dragon."


	9. IX

Flying on the dragon was the most terrifying thing that Reyna could remember. Of course, that wasn't saying too much.

Looking down at the city of New York below them, Reyna wasn't sure if it made her want to hurl or keep watching. Of course, that was the moment she remembered that she had an irrational fear of heights. She was doing her best to look at everything without making herself dizzy, but it wasn't the easiest task.

The dragon was the most amazing part. Up this high in the middle of winter, they should have been icicles, but the bronze hide produced a protective heat bubble, keeping them warm. Leo was babbling on all about Festus, but it was mostly mechanical talk that both Piper and Reyna ignored after a while. The only things she caught were the fact that there were harnesses to hold onto, and chinks to place their feet so that they wouldn't fall off and die.

Leo, in the front, steered the dragon like a pro. Behind him was Piper, with Reyna in the back, knuckles white on the harness.

Much quicker than she would have preferred, they raced into a cloud, turning the sky into a deep grey. Leo grinned at them, obviously enjoying this.

"It's cool, right?" He asked.

"What happens if someone spots us?" Piper asked, glancing down at the ground below.

Reyna's eyes got glassy as she stared out at the clouds, her dark braid flying out behind her. "The Mist. Most mortals will look up and may not even see anything. Some will see a small plane or something. There's a small number of people who would actually see a bronze dragon flying across the sky."

"You sure about that?" Leo asked.

"Of course." She murmured, before blinking, her eyes becoming more alert. "Maybe."

Looking up, she noticed Piper staring at her arm. Glancing down at her hand, she noticed that one had slipped off the harness and was running gently over the burned marks on her forearm. They felt like an old friend.

"Well, Festus is doing even better than I thought he would without a new disk. We should be there by tonight, even." Leo told them, facing ahead once again.

"Where are we going, anyways?" Piper asked, turning in the saddle to face Reyna.

She chose to answer. "To find Boreas, the god of the North Wind." She answered. "And to chase down some storm spirits." For the next hour, she closed her eyes and prayed that they'd land soon, her nausea climbing in her throat. Eventually, she heard Piper and Leo talking about the quest and forced herself upright.

Straightening back up, Leo caught her eye. "Speaking of that, what's the plan, boss?" His hands were twirling a piece of wire, knotting it over and over. Reyna noticed that he always seemed to be building something, especially lately. "We're like, catching wind or something? Or was it breaking wind?"

Piper rolled her eyes.

"We have to find Boreas. Percy said something about him being up North in Ontario. After that, he should tell us something about where those Venti went after went after the Grand Canyon-"

"Can we call them storm spirits?" Leo asked, making a face. "Venti makes them sound like we're just swinging by Starbucks. Which I'd rather be doing, to be honest."

Reyna glared at him, and he shrugged. "After we find them, we figure out who they work for. Then we can find where they're holding Jun-Hera and set her free."

"You want us to go look for Dylan on _purpose_?" Leo asked, raising his eyebrows. "Did you forget about the part where he threw me over the Grand Canyon, tried to shove you off it, and almost got away with Piper, then ended up taking Coach? And you still want to go hunt him down?"

"Pretty much."

Leo sighed in exasperation, "So that's our plan?"

"Yeah." Reyna agreed. "There might be some other things involved too- a wolf, who may or may not want to kill us." From there, Reyna re-told her dream about the house, where the wolves were guarding as if it was their duty.

"So you don't know where this mystical magical wolf place is?" Leo asked.

"Not a clue." She admitted.

"Not to mention, there is also the giants." Piper added, frowning. "The prophecy said _the giant's revenge_."

"Hang on just a second." Leo said, turning around to face the two of them. "Giants? As in, more than one? Why can't it ever just be, like, one giant who wants revenge?"

"I doubt it." Piper said. "After all, in the Greek stories, it was an entire army of giants born to oppose the gods one by one."

"So we get assigned the quest with the entire army? You know anything else about those giants? Didn't you do a bunch of Greek research and stuff when your Dad had that one movie going on?"

It was the times like this, when Leo or Piper would reference something from their past that she remembered just how little she actually knew about the two of them.

"Your dad's an actor?" Reyna asked, raising an eyebrow.

Leo laughed. "Amensia, right. I keep forgetting. Yeah, her dad is Tristan McLean."

"I don't know who I am," She reminded Leo, "Much less who anyone else is."

She didn't mean for her words to be bitter, but she didn't realize how they sounded until too late. Her memories had been stolen, she felt completely lost, and to make it all worse, headaches always seemed to accompany the déjà vu.

"It doesn't matter." Piper said simply. "The giants, well, there were a ton in Greek Mythology. But if I'm thinking of the right ones, they were bad news. Huge, almost impossible to kill. They could throw mountains, boulders, stuff like that. I think they were related to the Titans or something. They rose from the earth after Kronos lost the war- the first one, thousands of years ago- and they tried to destroy Olympus. If we're talking about the same giants-"

"When I talked to Chiron, he said it was happening again," Reyna remembered. "'The last chapter'. That's what he meant. No wonder he didn't want us to know all the details."

Glancing out at whatever city was below them, she couldn't tell if she was feeling dread, hope, or plain numbness. Her face remained smooth, like a parent trying not to freak out their child- like a leader.

"So… A giant army, an amnesiac, maybe friendly wolves, and evil espresso drinks. Is this is bad time to bring up my psycho baby sitter?" Leo interrupted.

"Is this a joke?" Piper asked.

From there, Leo launched into a story from his childhood about a woman named Tia Callida, who was actually the goddess Hera. She was a crazy old woman who had been his babysitter for years when he was young, before he'd been forced in and out of foster homes. Then, he told them about the night his mother had died, burned to death in a fire from her workshop. He didn't look at them once, focusing on the sky ahead. Finally, he told them about a woman in earth robes, her eyes closed, who knew the future.

At the end of his story, Reyna had no idea what she should say. That sucks? Sorry? Before she could answer, a feeling of deep loss hit her- like she'd known exactly what Leo felt. Blinking hard, she took a few moments to steady herself. Where had that come from? Was she really starting to lose her mind?

"That's… disturbing." Piper said, a great deal of time later.

"Sums it up nicely." Leo told her. "It's strange. Everyone's saying not to trust Hera. She hates demigods, and if we free her, she'll unleash a whole slew of death on everyone. So… why are we going to free her? Why are we doing any of this?"

"Because we were chosen." Reyna answered. "All of us. We're the first of the eight who will fulfill the Great Prophecy. This single quest is going to be the beginning of something that's a lot bigger."

Her head buzzed. In her head, she heard the words reverberated, only this time, she was younger, talking to only a single person. _We were chosen. We're the first quest of something that's going to be a lot bigger than just us_.

She was glad that neither Piper of Leo could see her hold her head as the burst of pain went through her head.

"Besides, helping Hera is the only way she'll give me back my memory. That weird, dark spire in my dream seemed to be almost… feeding off her energy. If it unleashes a king of the giants by destroying Hera-"

"Not a good trade." Piper finished. "At least Hera is on our side- at least, mostly. Not having her would send the gods into a tailspin. She's the main one who keeps peace in the family. A war with the giants would be even more destructive than the titans."

Reyna nodded solemnly. "Chiron also talked about worse forces stirring on the solstice, with it being a good time for dark magic, like the something that would awaken if they sacrificed Hera. And the mistress who's controlling all these storm spirits, who wants all demigods dead-"

"Might be that weird-ass sleeping lady from my dream." Leo finished. "Dirt woman fully awake is not something I want to see."

Piper sighed, breaking the silence.

"Who is she, anyways? What does she have to do with giants?" She asked.

Nobody answered. The question hung in the air, as heavy as a bag of sand. Meanwhile, they had to be somewhere near Maine, traveling as high and fast as a plane. The sick feeling she had wasn't gone, but it was contained enough that when her eyes began to stick, she let herself fall asleep.

After all, with where they were going next, she had a feeling there was going to be very little sleep for any of them.

In her dream, Reyna was twelve years old. She wore the white dress she'd seen in the mirror, the one resembling Piper's, but it was torn and bloody. In her hand were two long daggers, which she held tightly. Standing beside her was another girl, obviously much older. However, she looked very similar, with dark hair and eyes, sharp cheekbones, a wild look in her eyes.

The girl shoved a pile at Reyna- a shirt, pants, and a sturdy pair of shoes. "Change quickly. They'll be here soon. We can't let them find us again, or this time, we won't be able to escape."

Without another word, she changed. They were in an old clothing shop, a small fire burning in the corner. It was late at night, the sun gone and the moon high in the sky. After she'd been dressed comfortably, the young girl shed her old clothing to the fire.

"Good." The woman approved. "Listen to me, Reyna. We have to run, as fast as we can. If we can get to California, there is a place I can send you. As a daughter of Bellona- they'll protect you. I'm too old, but I have a few ideas of where I can go. The Hunters, maybe."

Even though it was just a dream, she could feel a sense of panic, of absolute fear of whatever they were running from. Reyna nodded hurriedly.

"I love you, Rey. Now, c'mon. We've got to go, now."

The pair exited the shop and ran as far as they could, headed North. Passing by a street sign, she was able to gather that they were in Miami, Florida.

From there, they managed to sneak onto a bus headed westward. It wasn't until they were speeding forward, that the older girl's name came back to Reyna.

Her name was Hylla.

As the dream began to fade, Reyna felt a sense of urgency. It couldn't be over yet- she had to see what happened, what Hylla had been talking about, what they were running from, how she knew her.

When she jerked awake, she told herself that she really needed to stop dreaming.

The sky was a bright blue, mixed with the sterling white of the clouds. It had begun to snow, the cold barely able to beat Festus's heat. Reyna's nose was pink, along with her cheeks and ears.

"Finally." Piper spoke, smiling slightly. "I thought you were dead or something."

Reyna shook her head, feeling a small smile tug up on the corners of her mouth. "We there yet?"

"Yeah, actually. I was just about to wake up Leo, since he's the only one who knows how to pilot Festus. He'd better not fall off, or something. I think there was a myth like that." Piper said.

As she turned to wake up Leo, Reyna adjusted the backpack she wore, before grabbing onto the handhold tightly. She didn't trust the dragon, and she definitely didn't like the heights.

A small castle appeared below the clouds, and she heard Leo's voice carry back. "Since you know so much, what is that castle down there?"

Piper smacked him. "A hotel, I think."

He looked down in disbelief. As they neared, however, it was obvious that it was in fact, a hotel. It was busy, despite not a single resident moving around. It was usual hotel staff- valets, bellboys, chauffeurs.

"The North Wind is staying in a hotel?" Leo asked, still stunned. "That isn't-"

That's when she saw the angels, approaching much too quickly to be friendly. They both had sharp swords in hand, something that made her even more uneasy.

"We've got company!" Reyna called. Then, under her breath, "And they want to kill us."


	10. X

From a distance, the angel boys looked a lot like Venti. However, as they approached, it was easy to tell that they were solid beings, and definitely not the storm spirits. Either way, they didn't look happy to see the three of them and their metallic dragon.

As they closed in, she noticed that they both had bright white hair, and wings the same purple shade as the moutains. They were complete opposites- one was huge, with black eyes, missing teeth, and hockey gear. The other looked like a mix between a Grease extra, and Elvis. Each one held a bronze sword, scowls on their faces.

The hockey god grunted. "No clearance."

"'Excuse me?" Leo asked, raising an eyebrow.

"You don't have a flight plan on file." The second god sounded much more authoritive, but he also had a horrid French accent, like he'd learned it from watching bad soap operas."This is restricted airspace."

"Destroy them?" The god asked.

Festus began to hiss and steam, making noises that Reyna was partly sure meant that they were about to die. Sliding her ring off her finger, she held it in her hand, ready to summon her spear at a moment's notice.

Before she could, Leo interrupted. "Hold up! Let's have some manners here, boys. Don't you think I should get the honor of knowing who's destroying me? I mean, what's glory without recognition?"

"I am Cal!" The hockey player told him, beaming with pride.

"That's short for Calais." The other supplied, casting a glare. "Sadly, my brother cannot say words with more than two syllables. This includes his own name."

"Pizza!" Cal chanted. "Hockey! Destroy!" Looking pleased, he glanced over the three of them, looking like his was concentrating hard. "I am Cal. And this is Zethes! My brother!"

"Whoa. That was almost three sentences, dude!" Leo congratulated.

"Stupid buffoon." Zethes muttered. "They make fun of you. I am the Zethes, short for Zethes. However, this young lady-" He winked at Piper, "May call me whatever she likes."

Piper gagged, and Reyna had to agree.

"That is a terrifying offer."

"No problem." Zethes answered, smiling. "We are very romantic, we Boreads."

At the sound of his name, Reyna jolted. She'd heard it before, and she figured that they were related to the North Wind, exactly who they were trying to get a hold of.

"Boreads?" She asked. "As in, the sons of Boreas?"

"Ah, so you've heard of us!" Zethes looked at her in pleasure. "We are our father's gatekeepers. So you understand, we cannot have unauthorized people flying in his airspace on creaky dragons, scaring off the silly mortals."

As he pointed, she noticed that several of the mortals were looking up in annoyance, as if they were a parade balloon that floated up too high, and was now merely a nuisance.

"That, is why unless this is an emergency landing, we have to kill you painfully."

"Destroy!" Cal chanted again, much more enthusiastically.

"Wait!" Piper called. "This is an emergency landing!"

Cal frowned deeply, as if upset at the fact that he would not be smashing in their skulls.

Zethes looked Piper over awkwardly, causing her to shift. "How does the pretty girl decide this is an emergency?"

"We have to see Boreas. It's totally urgent. Please?" Piper still had the blessing of Aphrodite- her hair was still shiny and perfect, despite the winds. Her words were smooth, making Leo and the twins believe every word she said. For some reason, Reyna didn't seem to be in the same trance.

"Well… I hate to disappoint a lovely lady, you see, but my sister, she would have an avalanche if I allowed you three to-"

"And our dragon is malfunctioning!" She added. "It could crash at any minute!" Festus shuddered helpfully, dropping them a good ten feet, before leveling back up.

Reyna prayed that he would believe her, mostly so that she would be able to finally get off Festus and onto solid ground- even if it was a floating castle in the sky.

The pair sighed, and eventually gave in, taking off towards the tower with a simple request to follow after them. With a grin, Leo turned to look back at the pair of them.

"I love these guys! Should we follow them?" He asked.

Piper and Reyna wore a similar expression, which was exhaustion.

"I guess." Reyna finally spoke. "We're here now. But I'm not too eager to find out why Boreas hasn't been kind to visitors."

"Pfft, he hasn't met us, obviously!" Leo cheered. "Festus, follow the angels!"Festus landed between two particularly threatening-looking icicles, shuddering slightly.

"This cannot be good." Reyna murmured, biting the inside of her cheek.

They had landed in what have been a penthouse suite, except it was completely frozen. The room was long and huge, with drapes, paintings, and decoration adorning every corner of the room. The rugs looked like they were made of real fur, and the windows were coated in ice to hide the sun, and every inch was covered in razor-sharp ice. It was as if they were stepping into Elsa's castle.

"Guys, fix the thermostat issue in here, and I would totally move in." Leo broke the silence.

"Not me." Reyna murmured, noticing the staircase in the corner. "Something feels wrong about this place. Up there."

Festus shuddered behind them, throwing flames.

"No, no, no!" Zethes scolded, marching over to the dragon. "The dragon has to be deactivated. We cannot have fire in here! The heat ruins my hair."

Festus made a noise that sounded suspiciously like growling. "S'okay, boy." Leo calmed. "The dragon is a little touchy about the whole deactivation topic. But I've got a better solution."

Pressing a button on the dragon, it instantly began to fold in on itself, like a larger, much heavier cardboard box. The wings collapsed, the neck shrunk in, and suddenly, there was a million pound bronze suitcase.

"One more thing- aha." Hitting another button, wheels popped out on the suitcase, and Leo nodded, obviously pleased. "Ta-da! The world's heaviest carry on bag."

Reyna's jaw dropped. "That's impossible. Something that big couldn't just-"

"Stop!" Zethes interrupted. Both of the gods drew their swords and pointed them at Leo, like he had attempted to pickpocket the pair when they weren't looking. Which he might have, Reyna thought.

Leo held up his hands. "Okay, you got me… what exactly did I do? Keep calm, I don't have to take the dragon as a carry on if that makes you uncomfortable."

"Who are you?" Zethes demanded, the point of his blade on Leo's throat. "A child of the South Wind, spying on us?"

"What? No! I'm a child of Hephaestus. Friendly blacksmith, no harm to anyone!"

Cal growled, grabbing Leo's shirt and getting into the demigod's face. "I smell fire." He stated, narrowing his eyes. "Fire is bad."

Reyna felt Piper tense beside her, ready to go and free Leo from the hockey god's grasp. She would go right alongside her, but she also knew that the gods would not be so willing to let them go at that point.

" Oh." Leo murmured. "Yeah, well… my clothes are kind of singed, obviously. I've been working with oil and stuff on Festus-"

"No!" Zethes interrupted, angrily. "We can smell fire, demigod. We assumed it was the dragon, but now it is a suitcase. And we still smell the fire…on you."

"Hey, look… I don't know," He said, holding up both hands. "Reyna, Piper, a little help here?"

Reyna already had her ring in hand, ready to turn it at a moment's notice. "Look, there's been a mistake. Leo's dad is the fire guy, not him. Tell them, Leo. Tell them you aren't the fire guy."

"Uh…" Leo replied smartly.

"Zethes?" Piper called, flashing a dazzling smile. Underneath the falsehood, however, Reyna could see the daughter of Aphrodite's hands shaking in her jacket, from a mix of cold and fear. "We're all friends here. Put down the spear and let's talk."

"The girl is pretty." Zethes stated. "And of course, she cannot help being attracted to my amazingness; but sadly, I cannot romance her at this time." His sword didn't move from Leo's throat, which was starting to turn red.

"Destroy him now?" Cal asked.

"Sadly, I think-"

Before the god could finish, Reyna interrupted him. "No." She insisted. Her voice was one of a scolding teacher- calm on the surface, but ready to fight as soon as needed. "Leo's just a son of Hephaestus. He's not a threat. Piper here is a daughter of Aphrodite. I'm the daughter of Bellona. We're on a quest to save Hera…"

She trailed off when she noticed the looks they were giving her. In fact, they seemed to have completely disregarded Leo, as the sword had fallen away from his neck.

"What did you say, daughter of Bellona?" Zethes asked.

"We're on a quest to save Hera. That's a good thing, right? My name's Reyna." Glancing at the pair of them, they seemed to be having a silent conversation, reading each other's facial expressions.

"Destroy?" Cal asked, one final time.

"No." Zethes said, almost regretfully. "If she is the daughter of Bellona, she could be the one we have been waiting for."

"Waiting for?" Leo interrupted, raising an eyebrow. "Like in a good way, like hey, let's throw her a party! Or in a bad way, like she's in trouble?"

Reyna wanted to smack him for drawing the attention back to himself. Before she could, another voice joined the group, causing them all to turn their heads.

"That depends on my father's will." The girl was deathly pale, with dark hair and brown eyes. She looked directly at Leo, her expression colder than a blizzard. That was the best way to describe the girl- cold.

"Father will want to see the one called Reyna." She spoke.

"Then it is her?" Zethes asked, suddenly excited.

"We'll have to see." Looking at him, she wrinkled her nose in distaste. "Zethes, bring out guests."

Leo instantly grabbed the suitcase, beginning to roll it after them. Before he could take even a step, she was on him, making Reyna wince with sympathy.

"Not you, Leo Valdez."

"Why not?" He argued.

"You cannot be in the presence of my father. Fire and ice… it would not be wise."

Stepping forward, she put a hand on Leo's shoulder. "We go together, or not at all." Reyna didn't want them to be separated, especially in the ice castle where so many things could go wrong.

Tilting her head, the girl made a face, like she wasn't used to having her orders usurped. "He will not be harmed, Reyna Ramirez-Arellano, unless you make trouble. Calais, keep Leo Valdez here. Guard him, but do not kill him."

Cal looked like a kicked puppy. "Please?"

"No." The girl insisted. "And take care of his interesting suitcase."

Looking to Piper, they silently exchanged looks. Both of them wore an identical expression, asking 'what do we do about this?' Before they could find a solution, Leo butted in.

"It's fine, guys. Go with her. I won't cause any trouble unless I have to. Go ahead."

"Listen to your friend." The girl purred. "Leo Valdez will be perfectly safe. I wish I could say the same for you, daughter of Bellona. Now come. The King Boreas is waiting."


	11. XI

Reyna instantly regretted leaving Leo as her and Piper began to climb the ice covered stairs. The goddess was completely silent, making the journey even more terrifying. Piper slipped, and Reyna barely managed to catch her and pull her back to her feet shakily.

"Thanks." Piper murmured, rubbing her hands together and trying to bring heat back into her fingers.

The goddess was no help. Every minute or so, she'd simply glance over her shoulder, her expression conveying her impatience. It was as if she was dealing with a troublesome pet, one she couldn't wait to put down.

As they walked, Reyna's mind couldn't help but stray from the task at hand. She had too many pieces to a puzzle, but there was only a pair that had managed to fit together- the picture of Thalia. Percy had said that she hadn't said a word about having a younger brother, but it could be true. If it was, she had to know. Because if Thalia knew where he was, then it was only a simple step to finding him and figuring out who she was.

Unless, of course, she failed on this quest. Then some villain would rise, and probably destroy the world. After all, what's the good of finding out who you are if you get killed seconds after?

"You still with me?" Piper asked, looking over at her with concern. Reyna blinked and nodded quickly.

"Yeah. Sorry." She apologized, looking back up as they followed behind the goddess. The temperature was getting considerably colder, and she was glad that she'd worn the jacket that had been left for her. Despite the fact that they'd given her other clothes, she'd kept the purple shirt, shoved into the bottom of her pack.

"This is the throne room." She announced, turning on her heel to face them, stopping suddenly and looking directly at Reyna. "If I were you, girl, I'd be on my best behavior. My father can be quite chilly to demigods. I will translate for you. I do hope he spares the two of you- I'm sure we could have such fun."

Her tone implied that her fun was vastly opposite of their idea of fun.

"Of course. But we do intend to leave right after." Reyna rebutted, her eyes narrowing slightly.

The goddess chuckled. "How I love heroes. Such ignorance I have not seen in a species since the mortals held power."

Piper, hand resting on her dagger, set her jaw. "Then why don't you help us out? All we know of you is that you are going to translate for us, and yet, we don't even know your name. How can we trust you?"

She huffed. "I suppose I can't blame you for not recognizing me. Even in the Greek times, I wasn't very well known. I am Khione, daughter of Boreas, goddess of snow."

With a graceful sweep of her hand, the air around her fingers became laced with miniature snowflakes, dancing around wildly, a few catching into Reyna's braid.

"Now come," Khione beckoned, smiling elegantly. With another sweep, the doors opened and she began to walk. "Hopefully you survive this little talk."

Somehow, the throne room was even colder than the entry room.

Despite this, it was gorgeous. Along the walls were tapestries of countrysides, shifting and moving as if they were real images. On the ceiling, the aurora borealis pulsed, moving back and forth in an array of beautiful colors. The ground was covered in snow; some places packed tightly, others moving about as the snow shifted in the wind.

More nerve racking than the cold was the frozen soldiers all over the room. They looked like sculptures, but the way that they eyed the king and them at the same time suggested otherwise. As her and Piper stepped forward, they moved quickly, their swords making an x and forcing them to a halt.

From the throne, the king's voice rang out, sharp and orderly. The swords slipped back into the guard's scabbards as they turned back around, setting themselves back into place.

"Do not worry." Khione reassured them. "My father has ordered them not to kill you just yet."

"Wonderful," Piper murmured under her breath.

"Keep it moving," Zethes insisted, poking her once in the back. Casting him a cold look over her shoulder, she began forward. "Know my father is not a patient man, and the beautiful Piper is losing her magic very quickly."

She rolled her eyes, casting Reyna a 'why must it be me' look.

As they walked into the room, they finally caught sight of Boreas. His dark suit was decorated with spirals of ice and snow, his hair bright white and tinged with icicles. Large purple wings were on his back, and he had an angry expression, but his eyes were warm.

"_Bienvenu,_" The king greeted. "_Je suis Boreas le Roi. Et vous?_"

Khione's lips opened to relay, but before she could, Piper stepped forward and curtsied. Reyna only had time to raise an eyebrow.

"_Votre Majeste_," Piper said, smiling. "_Je suis Piper McLean, fille de Aphrodite. Et c'est Reyna Ramirez-Arellano._"

Boreas smiled wide in surprise, leaning forward. His eyes were bright, as if suddenly intrigued. "_Vous parlez francais? Tres bien!_"

Stepping to Piper in confusion, Reyna touched her shoulder. "Piper, you speak French?"

Piper frowned deeply. "No. Why?"

"You just spoke French."

Piper blinked. "What? I did?" At this, the king spoke quickly, still in French. She nodded, obviously understanding every word. "_Oui, Votre Majeste_."

The king laughed out loud, before clapping his hands, obviously pleased by Piper's newfound ability. He spoke again, before waving his hand in Khione's direction, either pointing to her or shooing her away.

By her sour expression, Reyna guessed the latter. "The king says-"

"He says I'm a daughter of Aphrodite," Piper interrupted, "so naturally I can speak French, which is the language of love. I had no idea. His majesty says Khione won't have to translate for us now."

Zethes snorted as Khione took a slow step back.

Looking back, the king had been sizing up Reyna, looking her over as if attempting to size her up. Reyna bowed deeply to him, not wanting to attempt a curtsy while in jeans.

"Your majesty, I'm Reyna Avila Ramirez-Arellano. Thanks for not killing us. May I ask why you speak French instead of Greek? Or English?"

Turning to the king, Piper spoke with him quickly, nodding as he replied. "He speaks the language of his host country. He says all gods do. That's why most gods speak English, because they live in the United States. However, Boreas was never as welcome with them, so he moved north, to Quebec, and he speaks French."

The king spoke once more, but this time, she paled instantly.

"The king says…" She trailed off. "He says-"

"Oh, allow me." Khione interjected. "My father says he has orders to kill you. Did I not mention that earlier?"

Reyna tensed, her lips pressing together in a tight line as she looked back to the king, who was still beaming.

"Kill us?" She spoke. "Why?"

"Because," Boreas spoke, his words heavily accented, but English. "My lord Aeolus has commanded it."

The king rose, his wings fanning out behind him, before folding and disappearing behind his back. He walked down the stairs to them slowly, and his children bowed. Piper and Reyna caught on quickly, bowing to him as well.

"I shall speak your language, Reyna Ramirez-Arellano, as Piper McLean has honored me in mine. _Toujours,_ I do have a fondness for the children of Aphrodite. As for you, I do wish to hear you out before I do anything too rash."

Reyna could feel her ring burning on her finger, beckoning to be released into its spear form. However, she knew if she did, it would be her and Piper versus a god, two of his kids, and a ton of undead ice zombies.

"Why does Aeolus want us dead?" She asked, swallowing.

"You are demigods," he said, shrugging. "Aeolus's job is to contain the winds, and demigods have always caused him many headaches. Especially after the battle against Typhon last summer, where a host of storm spirits were released. The first time, the gods helped to clean them up. This time, they did not even apologize!"

"But Your Majesty," Piper said. "the gods had no choice! If they hadn't battled him, the world as we know it would be ruled by Kronos and his titans. Why punish demigods for that?"

Boreas shrugged. "Since he cannot take it out on the gods, their children were the next best thing. So his orders were clear- we are not to help demigods who seek aid. We are to kill them."

There was a long silence as Piper and Reyna locked eyes.

"That sounds extreme." Reyna spoke. "But you aren't going to kill us yet, right? You're going to listen first, because once you hear about our quest-"

"Yes, yes." He agreed. "You see, he also warned me that a trio of demigods might come to me, and if that was to happen, I would be able to listen before I destroyed you, as it would make our lives very interesting. I am only ordered to listen, however, and after that I may pass my own judgment."

She felt her breath release. "Thank you."

"Do not thank me." He warned, still smiling at them. "There are many ways to make our lives interesting. Sometimes we keep demigods for amusement."

Piper looked strangled. "You mean that they're all frozen demigods? They're alive?"

"An interesting question. They don't move unless ordered, but the rest of the time, they are merely frozen. Unless they were to melt, which I suppose would be quite messy."

The air seemed to grown even colder as Khione stepped behind the pair of them, her icy aura tingling their necks. Reyna had a very bad feeling that this meeting was already beginning to go south- or north, in this situation.

"My father gives us lovely presents." Khione told Reyna, smiling at her coldly. "If you were to join our court, I might even let your little friends live. After all, how fun would that be?"

"What?" Zethes spoke. "If Khione gets her, I deserve the other girl. She always gets more presents!"

"Now, children," Boreas said, his face stern. "They will think you are spoiled. Besides, we have not yet heard the demigod's story yet. Please, Reyna, entertain us."

Just as he gave her the floor, she felt her mind coming to a halt. If she couldn't get the story out right, then she would get her and Piper frozen on the spot, leaving Leo on his own. Then they'd fail their quest, Reyna would never regain her memory, and she'd be forced to live out the rest of eternity as a frozen slave to Khione.

She could feel Khione's fingers on her neck, and before she knew it, she was pulling away, whacking her fingers away from her. This only caused the goddess to anger, and Zethes to laugh.

"That is good! I'm glad you did that, even if I have to kill you now." Zethes spoke.

"Stop." Reyna ordered, her voice strong. "You aren't going to kill us, and you sure as hell aren't going to keep us. We're on a quest for Hera, and unless you want her paying you a visit, you're going to let us go."

This got the attention of the entire room.

"Hm." Boreas spoke, eyes twinkling. "A demigod, favored by Hera? This is rare. Tell us your story."

Immediately, her voice stopped working. Piper, however, smiled and curtsied again, regaining attention from the king.

Instantly, she began to tell the story. From Reyna waking up on the bus with amnesia, to the Grand Canyon, to the prophecy. "All we ask is guidance." She finished. "These storm spirits attacked us, and they're working for an evil mistress. If we find them, maybe we can find Hera."

The king looked out the window, deep in thought.

"I know of these storm spirits, and of their prisoner. I also know where they are kept."

"You mean Coach Hedge?" She asked, surprised. "He's alive?"

Boreas waved the question aside with his hand. "For now. But the one who controls these storm winds… It would be madness to oppose her. You would be better off here."

"Hera's in trouble." Reyna said. "In three days, something bad is going to happen to her, she'll be consumed, destroyed, I don't know- but a giant is going to rise."

"Yes." Boreas agreed. "Many horrible things are waking. The Great Stirring of monsters that began with Kronos- Zeus foolishly believed that it would end with the Titans, but it hasn't. Olympus has much reason to fear."

"So you will help us?" Reyna asked.

The god scowled. "I did not say that."

"Please, Your Majesty." Piper pleaded. Everyone looked to her- she looked beautiful and confident, even if her blessing of Aphrodite was gone. It was just Piper, in her braids and snowboarding jacket, smiling in the face of what was appearing to be certain death. "If you tell us where the storm spirits are, we can capture and bring them to Aeolus. You'd look good in front of him, and he might pardon us. We could even rescue Gleeson Hedge. Everyone wins."

"She's pretty," Zethes said. "I mean, she's right."

Of course, Reyna should have known that it would never be that easy.


	12. XII

As soon as Piper had spoken, Khione looked outraged. "Father, don't listen to her!" She cried. "She's a child of Aphrodite. She dares to charmspeak a god?"

Boreas paused, considering. Reyna's hand went to to her ring, getting ready to transform it. If things somehow went even worse, she was going to be ready to fight their way back to Leo and Festus.

This movement caught the king's eye. "What is that on your forearm, demigod?"

Reyna hadn't realized that by twisting her ring, the edge of her tattoo had been revealed. Reluctantly letting go of the ring, she pushed up the jacket sleeve and showed him the full tattoo.

The god's eyes widened. Khione hissed, backing away from her. Suddenly, Boreas laughed loudly, causing an icicle to break and hit the ground, shattering. His form began to flicker. His beard was gone, he gained an inch of height and lost a few pounds of weight, and his clothing darkened to a purple toga. Now he had a gladius, and a laurel wreath on his head.

"Aquilon." She said, unsure of how she knew his Roman name.

He inclined his head. "Yes, you would recognize me better in this form. Khione, you didn't tell me that Reyna was a daughter of Bellona. My children still hold things back from me, do they not?" He huffed, obviously irritated. "But you said you came from Camp Half-Blood?"

Reyna shifted. "Yes, Your Majesty."

"And Hera sent you there?" He shook his head. "I understand now. Oh, she plays such a dangerous game. Bold, but dangerous! No wonder they have closed Olympus. They are probably all shaking in their boots at this gamble she's taken."

"Reyna," Piper murmured nervously. "why did Boreas change shape? The toga, the wreath. What's going on?"

"It's his Roman form." She said simply. "But as for what's going on, I have absolutely no clue."

The god just laughed. "No, I'm sure you don't. This will be interesting to watch."

"Does this mean you'll let us go?"

"My dear, there is no reason for me to kill you now. If Hera's plan fails, which I believe it will, Aeolus won't have to worry about demigods again. You'll tear each other apart."

The king's words made no sense, as if he was talking to his children rather than to her. She couldn't help but frown, knowing that he knew something and wouldn't tell them. In fact, as she thought about it, he probably knew who she was.

"So I'm guessing you can't explain your meaning?" Reyna spoke, sighing.

"I'm afraid not. It's no wonder that Hera took your memory- it would be foolish not to. You know, unlike my brethren, I am known as a helpful wind god. On occasion, I fall in love with mortals. Why, my sons Zethes and Calias started as demigods-"

Khione made a snide comment, and Zethes snapped back. Just before they could hit each other, however, Boreas told them to freeze. Without moving a muscle, they stopped in place, looking irritated.

"As I was saying," the god continued. "the other gods are always in the spotlight. Me, however, I'm off to the side, so rarely getting amusements from demigods. While all my brethren get feasts and parties, all I get is a winter festival with naked Canadians rolling around in the snow!"

"But I like the winter festival," Zethes muttered.

"My point is I have a chance to be in the center now. So yes, I will let you on your quest. You will find those storm spirits in the Windy City, of course. Chicago-"

"Father!" Khione protested.

Boreas completely ignored his daughter. "If you can capture them, you may be able to gain entrance to Aeolus's court. Be sure to tell him that this was on my orders."

Nodding, Reyna turned her ring on her finger, a nervous habit. "Okay, so Chicago is where we'll find the lady who controls the storm spirits? The woman who kidnapped Hera?"

"Those are two different questions, Praetor." The god stated.

_Praetor, _she noticed. Before, he'd simply used her name. He said the title with respect, which was odd. It wasn't often that the gods used any respect when talking to demigods. Usually, it was simply talking down to them, just as adults did to children. Dylan had also used the title, she remembered.

"But no, the woman in the Windy city is simply a servant. And once you find who has imprisoned Hera- well, you are going to be wishing that I'd simply froze you here."

"Father!" Khione protested. "You can't simply let them leave!"

"I can do as I like." He snapped. "I am still the master here, am I not?"

Looking at her father, the goddess had a mixture of anger and resentment, one that had been brewing for a long time before they had showed up. Just the way that she looked at him made Reyna want to leave even faster, because after all, if she could have that much hate for him, she only wondered how much she had to hate demigods.

"Yes, father." She finally spoke.

"Now go, demigods, before I change my mind. Zethes, escort them out safely."

When they finally made it back, Leo was leaning against the wall as Cal stared him down. Somehow, Leo had gotten cleaned up- he wore clean new clothes, all the grease was gone, and Festus was in dragon form again.

As they followed Khione down the stairs, Reyna noticed the way that Leo suddenly began to smooth out his hair, trying to look cooler. Piper sent her a look over her shoulder, one that read 'SOS'. She had to agree- Khione was not someone that you wanted your god of fire demigod friend to be getting a crush on.

Before they could reach him, however, the snow goddess turned on them, her eyes blazing. "Piper McLean, don't think that just because you've managed to fool my father, you've fooled me. We are not done. And you, Reyna Ramirez-Arellano, I will see to it that you are a statue in this throne room."

Reyna cast her a look. "Good luck with that."

The goddess fumed as she turned and marched up the steps, the edge of her dress causing snow to cover the stairs as she fled.

"I'd be careful." Zethes warned. "She never forgets an insult."

Cal grunted in agreement.

Reyna was tempted to ask what she could possibly do to them. Throw snowballs? Melt their ice cream cones? But she knew better than to say it out loud, as she had a feeling that Khione could do a whole lot worse, and she didn't want to figure out just exactly what it was.

"What happened in there?" Leo asked, an eyebrow raising. "Why would you make her mad? Dude, she was going to be my prom date! Is she mad at me, too? Maybe I should go apologize to her."

Piper glanced at Reyna, exhausted. "We'll explain later." It was obvious, however, that she expected Reyna to explain. Honestly, she couldn't even explain to herself what had happened, and she'd been there. Boreas going schizophrenic and turning into Aquilion made her brain hurt.

Reyna put her head down, trying not to let anyone see her expression. She'd never- as far as she knew- been more confused in her life. The way that the god had laughed at their quest, sent them off made her realize that he knew something bad was going on, but he wasn't scared or upset. He was excited, like it was going to be the latest episode of his favorite television show. It also angered her, but that wasn't going to be public information either.

As the two gods talked to Leo and Piper, Reyna simply made her way to Festus and stroked his head once, before swinging herself up and planting herself into the back saddle. Festus reminded her of a dog, or maybe even a horse. It gave her a strange longing for a pet.

"Don't get destroyed." Cal spoke, glancing up at Reyna. "Next time- hockey. Pizza."

"Come on, guys." Reyna spoke, digging her heels into the ledges. She was ready to get out of here. "Let's get to Chicago and try not to get killed."

* * *

As they flew over the rest of Quebec, Reyna leaned forward to Piper, who was right in front of her. "You did amazing." She told her, her voice just loud enough to carry over the wind. It was as she looked out at the city that she knew that she'd been somewhat of a leader before this quest.

Piper didn't meet her eyes when she spoke. Although her voice was low, it was obvious that she was speaking in French- probably by accident. Changing languages so quickly wouldn't have been easy for anyone, especially if she had just found out about it.

"What?" Reyna asked.

"I said that I only talked to Boreas. It wasn't amazing."

"Hey," she said, leaning slightly so that she could see Piper's face. "You saved both of us from having to be Khione's personal frozen slaves for the rest of eternity. I owe you."

A small smile appeared on Piper's lips, but then it was gone as soon as it had appeared.

Reyna could tell that Khione wasn't what she was thinking about, though. She couldn't blame Piper, mostly because she wasn't either.

Boreas had only let her go after he'd seen her tattoos, after he'd found out that she was a daughter of Bellona. It had only confirmed the fact that when she'd been at Camp, it had been wrong. Everything about it felt horrible, like she was walking on someone's grave. Everyone had dismissed it as uneasiness, but now, she was beginning to understand that it was something much more. And she didn't want to think about what it could be.

"I still can't believe that Khione is evil," Leo muttered. "She looked so nice."

She rolled her eyes, but kept her voice soft. "I know."

Leo still hadn't told them anything of what happened while they met with Boreas. He especially hadn't said anything about why they had singled him out for smelling like fire, and he wasn't going to anytime soon. The one time they brought it up, he changed the subject, looking down at the lights below.

Without looking back, Leo handed them sandwiches. They all ate in silence, the tension between them starting to become evident. None of them wanted to share, but none of them wanted to ask, either.

Within a few minutes, Piper had leaned forward onto the dragon and fell asleep, and Leo leaned forward, rubbing his eyes.

"Go to bed. I'll wake you if anything happens." She called to him. He simply nodded and leaned his head on Festus's neck, his arms wrapped around the dragon either for protection or comfort. Either way, it only took him ten minutes before he was snoring so loud, she was surprised that Piper hadn't woken from sleep yet.

Once they were both asleep, Reyna pulled the picture from her pocket. She hadn't meant to, but when the dragon had startled her and Percy, she'd shoved it into her pocket and ran. It was a simple photostrip of the three kids- A blonde boy, Annabeth, Percy's missing girlfriend, and Thalia Grace. She was sure that it was Jason's sister, despite the fact that she had no idea who either of them were. Even from her fleeting image of Jason, the girl had the same electric blue eyes, like the sky after it had rained for days before. Even if nobody else was, she was sure.

The daughter of Bellona was roused from her thoughts by a loud beeping noise. Looking up, she saw Festus look back, his head jerking slightly. Pushing the picture into her pocket, she leaned forward.

"What? What is it?"

The dragon made the noise again, before dropping a few feet.

"Leo!" Reyna yelled, just as the dragon's wings stopped working, and they began to fall out of the sky.


	13. XIII

As the three of them fell through the air, Reyna tried not to panic.

The cold air was slapping them in the face as they fell, causing her eyes to water. Blinking quickly, she heard Leo fly past her, shrieking like a banshee. Somehow, Reyna felt her body tensing, readying for impact.

"Level out! Extend your arms and legs, try and slow your fall!" She yelled, but the doubt didn't fade. If they hit the ground going this fast… well, it wouldn't be too fun for whoever found the three demigod-shaped puddles in the morning. But what shape would a demigod be when they splattered, anyways?

Oh gods, she thought. Now is _not_ the time for a Leo question.

The ground was approaching scarily fast, and just as she began to think that it would be a really crappy way to die, she hit into something hard. She had just enough time to register that Festus had caught them before he rolled, throwing them into the snow from ten feet in the air. The cold hit her like a shock, temporarily paralyzing her.

"Oh, god." Leo groaned, before attempting to sit up. Just before he could, a loud explosion shook the ground, and he let out a cry. "Festus!"

Quickly, Reyna shook off the dizziness and looked around, startled by the fact that Piper was nowhere to be seen. "Piper!" She called. "Where is she?"

Looking around, she saw that they had landed in the middle of a large group of warehouses, all that looked extremely ominous in the dim light of the streetlamps.

From the leftmost building came a timid voice. "Here."

Sliding in next to her, Leo and Reyna both started towards it. Pushing hard on the door, it groaned loudly but opened, revealing a very pale and sick looking Piper.

"Are you okay…?" Leo began, before gagging. "Oh, nevermind. You aren't."

"Thanks." Piper muttered. Sweat was beading her forehead, despite the freezing cold air. She tried to look away from her ankle, which was obviously broken.

"You are going to be fine. Leo, do you have any first aid supplies?" Reyna asked, not taking her eyes off of Piper's leg. Her entire foot was twisted the wrong way, making it look surreal. Her ankle was swollen badly, nearly three times the size that it usually was.

"Yeah, sure. Here you go." Gently, he set down a roll of duct tape and a roll of gauze, both of which were too big for his tool belt pockets. Reyna ignored it, unrolling the gauze and nodding, deeming it good enough to use.

"Can you fix her foot, Leo?" She asked, looking up at him.

"I'm a mechanic. She's not exactly a car." Snapping his fingers, he pointed to Reyna. "What about that godly healing food… Rambo?"

"Ambrosia, idiot." Piper said, her teeth gritted. "There's some in my bag."

Carefully, she got to her feet and eased the bag off of the Daughter of Aphrodite's shoulders, trying hard not to move her. Checking through it quickly, she found the bag full of the food and took out a piece for Piper.

The pain left her features, the tense of her back fading as she chewed.

"More." Piper muttered.

"I don't think we should risk it." Reyna cautioned, glancing at the bag in distaste. "They said too much would burn you up. I think I should try and set your foot."

Piper flinched involuntarily. "Have you ever done it before?"

Pursing her lips together, she nodded. "I think." Leo held out two pieces of wood, and she took them. "Hold her leg, Leo. Piper, this is going to hurt like hell."

Placing both pieces of wood on either side of her leg, the daughter of Bellona took a breath before she pulled her leg back into place. Piper yelled loudly and punched Leo, hard enough that he cried out just as loud as her. Wrapping up her leg and securing it all together with the tape, Reyna nodded. "I'm done."

Sighing in relief, she fell back in the snow. "Thanks, Reyna."

Leo rubbed his arm, muttering under his breath something about how Piper should join a boxing team.

It was silent for a minute as Reyna gave Piper the nectar, letting her rest for a moment as they all looked around the abandoned warehouse. It was creepy this late at night, casting long shadows down the corridors.

"What happened to the dragon?" Piper finally asked. "Where are we?"

Instantly, his expression fell as he looked at the ground. "I don't know with Festus. When I woke up, he just jerked sideways like he'd hit something and started falling." Looking at the wall, he pointed a slim finger to the logo. "As far as where we are, it's a closed car plant. We're probably in Detroit."

"We're nearly to Chicago. But without Festus, we're stuck traveling on land." Reyna muttered.

Leo cussed. "That isn't safe."

"He's right." Piper murmured. "Besides, I'm not sure if I can walk."

Reyna grumbled. "Are you sure that Festus isn't just malfunctioning? I mean, he is pretty old, and it's not like he's been well maintained-"

Leo looked offended as he glanced up. "And I might not have repaired him right?"

"I didn't say that. But maybe you could fix him?"

"I don't know." Leo looked upset. "Even if we found him, he's probably not going to be in one piece anymore. And I don't have time to fix him right, if I could fix him at all."

This time the silence that fell over the three of them was uncomfortable. They all looked around, at the ground and the ceiling, trying not to look at one another the best they could.

"This is all my fault." Piper murmured, tears in her eyes.

Reyna looked at her, shaking her head. "You were asleep when Festus conked out. There's no way it could have been your fault."

"Yeah, you're just shaken up." Leo agreed. "You're in pain. You need rest." Sitting up and pulling himself to his feet, he brushed the snow off of his jacket and looked back down to them. "I'll go scout around for Festus. If I can find him, maybe I can fix him or something. It's worth a shot."

She wanted to protest, but she had a feeling that Leo needed some time alone. Sighing, she nodded and waved him off. He pulled a flashlight from his belt and started out of the warehouse, down the stairs and out into the snow.

Reyna was exhausted. She wanted nothing more than to take a nap, to fall asleep and forget this quest, where they were headed. However, dreams only brought more of the visions, made her head hurt more, and she wanted that even less.

Glancing back to Piper, she noticed the color had come back to her face. "You look better."

Piper nodded, sitting herself up. "You did a good job on my ankle. Where did you learn first aid, anyways?"

Reyna shrugged. "Don't know."

"But you're starting to have some memories, aren't you? Like the prophecy at camp, the dream about the wolf, stuff like that."

"It's… fuzzy." She told her, twisting her ring around her finger. "Like déjà vu. You forget the word or name, but it's on the tip of your tongue, even though you don't know what it is. It's just like that, but with my entire life."

There was a few beats of silence as Piper looked down. She noticed how uncomfortable the daughter of Aphrodite looked, but she didn't know if it was from the cold, her ankle, or something else.

"That photo in your pocket," Piper finally spoke, looking up. "Is that someone from your past?"

Reyna's eyebrows knit together, before realizing she meant the photo of Thalia. Pulling it out of her pocket, she showed the picture to Piper.

"No, I've never met her." Reyna spoke, looking down at the picture. "But ever since that dream with Hera, she's been talking about me having a friend named Jason Grace. Then I found this picture, and it turns out her name is Thalia Grace. She's Jason's sister, I'm sure of it, even though I can't explain it."

Piper nodded, as if she understood. "Percy said something about her becoming a Hunter of Artemis, right?"

Reyna nodded. "I have this odd feeling that I need to find her. Everyone says that she doesn't have a brother, but I'm sure that she does. But I also know that asking is going to stir things up, and I'm not sure that I want that to happen."

In the dim light, the daughter of Aphrodite looked a thousand years old as she spoke. "I think it's going to happen no matter what."

There was another silence between the pair of them, but this one was different. Piper had a frown on her face as she stared at the company's logo- MONOCLE MOTORS, followed by a single red eye. It set Reyna on edge as well, almost as if she knew about this place.

"Reyna," Piper spoke, her voice soft. "While we're talking about all this, I need to tell you something- something about my dad-"

Just as she leaned forward, a loud clang sounded, like a hammer hitting against a sheet of metal. Reyna's head jerked up, and she slid her ring off her finger, holding it in her hand. Standing, she went to the edge of the stairs, peering out cautiously. "Leo?" She called.

There was silence.

She walked back to Piper, keeping the unease off of her face. "I'm going to go check that out, make sure it isn't Leo. Are you going to be okay if I leave you alone for a few?"

Piper nodded. "I'll be fine." A small smile appeared on the edge of her mouth as she pulled out her dagger, Katoptris. "Anyone comes near me, I'll turn them into a shish-kebab."

Nodding, the daughter of Bellona pulled off her backpack and handed it to Piper. "I'll leave this with you. If I don't come back in five minutes-"

"I'll panic?"

Reyna cracked a small smile. "Glad you're feeling better."

"Oh, just go, would you?"

Smiling, she nodded. "I'll be back."

Gripping her ring, it grew into its full spear form, giving the room a gold glow. Turning on her heel, she started down the stairs, one hand out to balance her. It wasn't completely dark on the bottom floor, she noticed. There were lanterns lit here and there, especially the farther from the stairs she got.

Hearing something, she stopped on her heels, pausing in place. There was nothing in front of her, but she had definitely heard a noise. And if lanterns were lit, that meant someone had to have been here recently. Or maybe, they were still there.

When she finally turned to head further into the room, she was stopped by a Cyclops. He was much taller than Reyna, probably nearly double her size, and each of his biceps was the size of a boulder, with a single eye above his oblong nose.

Holding out her spear at him, she glared. "Piper-" she began to yell, before she was grabbed from behind, knocking her spear from her hand. The Cyclops in front of her grinned, turning back to the stairs from which she came.

"Reyna? Is that you?" Piper called, her voice unsure."Yeah, I'm on my way up. Don't move." The Cyclops replied, in a perfect imitation of Reyna's voice. Immediately she began to struggle, kicking and squirming in his grip.

Footsteps began on the stairs, and she kicked harder.

"It's okay!" She heard her voice call. "It's fine, Pipes. You're just in time for dinner."

Reyna managed to kick her way free from the Cyclops, running and snatching her ring from the ground as she yelled. "Piper, run!" Then the Cyclops brought down a sheet of thin metal over her head, and a black haze seized all of her thoughts when she hit the ground.

The first noise that got through to her was the sound of someone screaming. It made her jerk, then suddenly she was swinging, her arms tightly against her sides, her heads pounding like a drum. She was obviously wrapped in chains, due to her inability to move.

Before she could wake up, however, she was thrown back into a dream. Everything still hurt- but now she wasn't chained, was standing up. "Am I dead?" She wondered aloud.

"You aren't dead, my hero." A voice whispered. "It is not your time yet. Come, speak with me."

When she blinked, she was back at the place of the wolves, only they were nowhere to be seen. Reyna was inside the pool, next to the earth cage which held a woman dressed in black, like she was heading to a funeral. Pulling her veil, she revealed herself as Hera.

"Jun- Hera." Reyna spoke, nodding her head once.

"Welcome to my prison," the goddess said, her face smooth as marble. "Today is not the day you die, Reyna. Your friends will keep you alive, for now."

"For now?" She asked, unable to hide her worry.

Hera didn't answer, but rather looked at her. "There will be worse to come. The earth stirs against us, thwarting us."

"You're a goddess. Can't you escape?"

Instead of getting angry, the woman just smiled sadly, before she began to glow. It got bright enough that it began to hurt Reyna's eyes, but she didn't look away. When it was gone, the cage still stood, looking unfazed.

"This cage is much too powerful, even for me," she said, her face darkening. "I can be many places at once, you see. But when the main part of my essence is caught, is trapped, it is much like a foot in a bear trap. I can't escape, and I am hidden away from the other Olympians. Only you can find me, and I grow weaker each day."

Reyna frowned. "Why did you come here?"

Hera sighed. "I had to attempt something. Zeus believes he could withdraw from the world and lull our enemies back to sleep. He believes we Olympians have become much too involved in the affairs of mortals, of our children. He believes this is waking our enemies. This is why he closed Olympus."

"And you disagree?"

"No. Sometimes I do not understand my husband's wishes, but this was unlike him. He was too convinced. As Hera, I might have been content to follow my husband's wishes. But I am also Juno."

Under her black clothing flickered a goatskin cloak, the symbol of Roman warriors. "Juno Moneta they once called me. Juno, the one who warns. I was guardian of the state, patron of Rome. I sensed the danger at this sacred spot. A voice told me to come here. Gods do not have a conscience, but this was like it- so the same day Zeus closed Olympus, I slipped away and came here."

"It was a trap." Reyna spoke quietly.

Hera nodded. "Only too late did I realize this. I was more foolish than Zeus, as this was how I was caught the first time by the giants. Now our enemies rise again, and the gods can only defeat them with the help of the greatest living heroes. And the one who the giants serve, she cannot be defeated at all, only kept asleep."

"I don't understand."

"You will." Hera spoke, her voice soft.

Suddenly, the cage began to constrict, and voices were getting louder above the edge of the pool. From below, it looked as if they had several sets of arms, but that had to be a trick of the light. She heard wolves, as well- but not like Lupa. Much darker, a whole lot more dangerous.

"Hurry, Reyna. My keepers approach, and you are waking. I will not be able to appear to you again, even in dreams."

"Wait," she spoke, a question on her tongue. "Boreas said you'd made a dangerous gamble. What was he talking about?"

Hera looked at her, and all of her soft and quiet was gone. She looked like a cornered animal, one who wasn't too friendly. "An exchange. The only way to bring peace. The enemy counts on our divisions, and if we are divided, we will be destroyed. You are a peace offering, Reyna- a bridge to overcome a millennia of hatred."

"What?"

"I can't tell you more." Hera spoke, her eyes on the humanoid figures above her. "You have only lived this long because I have taken your memory. Find this place, return to your starting point. The girl who's picture you carry will help."

Reyna paused for a moment, before realizing what she meant. "Thalia? Thalia Grace?"

Hera began to dissolve, along with the mansion. "Goodbye, Reyna. Beware of Chicago. Your most dangerous mortal enemy waits there. If you are going to die, it will be by her hand."

"Who?" she demanded, irritated by the lack of answers.

But then everything was gone, and Reyna was jerking awake.


	14. XIV

Embarrassingly, Reyna jerked awake and nearly fell off of the metal dragon.

Thankfully, Piper had switched seats, and had been sitting behind her, keeping her from falling thousands of feet and ending up as a crater in someone's front yard.

"Whoa, sleepyhead." Piper laughed, smiling at her.

Reyna looked at her friends and then the dragon, trying to figure out if she had been asleep this whole time. "Detroit?" She asked, her eyebrows pressed together in confusion. "Didn't we crash-land? Your ankle was broken. I went to go find what the noise was-"

"It's okay." Leo said, turning to look at her. "We got away, but you got a pretty nasty concussion. You feeling ok?"

This didn't help. Rubbing her head, she frowned. "I remember that. But how did you-"

"Leo ripped them apart," Piper spoke, a twinkle in her eye. "He was amazing. Turns out, he can summon fire-"

"It's nothing." Leo cut her off, turning back.

"Shut up, Valdez. I'm going to tell her. Don't think about interrupting."

Piper told her about how Leo had single-handedly destroyed all three of the Cyclopes, gotten her down from the chains, dragged her to Festus and got him rewired all within the time it took them to re-form. He'd also told Piper about his fire- how he'd been able to do it since he was a kid, was completely immune, and could turn himself into a human torch on command.

Reyna couldn't help but be impressed. It had been only days since he'd known he was a demigod, and he was already taking out full grown Cyclopes almost completely on his own. It also made her feel guilty, though- she was supposed to be the leader of the quest, keeping them out of trouble. And yet, she had been about as useful as a sack of potatoes.

"But that wasn't the weirdest part," Piper said, regaining Reyna's attention. "There was this other kid that they claimed to have eaten. They said he had a purple shirt, and spoke fluent Latin. He also had a tattoo on his arm, and said he was a son of Mercury, not Hermes."

Immediately, her head was swirling. Placing her head in her hands, she could feel a strong connection, like her mind was almost going to remember, before it faded. Trying not to get angry, she let out a low breath, before lifting her head.

"There are others like me. I'm not alone." She said finally.

"Reyna," she said, trying to mask the hurt. "You were never alone. You've got us."

"I know." She said, giving Piper a small smile, before it slipped away. "But there was something Hera said. I was having this dream…"

She told them about her and Hera's conversation, and what had been happening inside the goddess's earthy cage.

"An exchange?" Piper asked. "What does that mean?"

Reyna shrugged, wishing she knew that for herself. Every time Hera appeared to her, it left her feeling even more confused and worried than she had been before. "The only thing I know is that Hera's gamble is _me._ Just by sending me to Camp Half-Blood, she broke some huge rule, something that none of the other gods would ever have done. Something that could potentially blow up in some huge way-"

Although Piper tried to hide it, she looked extremely worried, before she covered it with a hopeful expression. "Or maybe you could save us. That bit about the sleeping enemy sounds like that woman Leo was talking about."

Leo coughed, turning backwards in his saddle to look at them. "About that… see, I kinda might have saw her back in Detroit in the Porta-Potty sludge."

Reyna and Piper both stared at him.

Clearing his throat, he told them about the face that had appeared to him in the factory yard as he looked for Festus. "So, I can't tell if she's like invincible, or if toilet seats just aren't as good of a weapon as they used to be. All I know is she wanted me to betray you guys, and I was like 'Pfft, right, I'm going to listen to this crazy Porta-Potty face.'"

"She's trying to divide us." Piper said, before she sat back, distancing herself from Leo and Reyna. Something in her tone had changed, and she began to wonder if the daughter of Aphrodite was hiding something.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

"I just… Why are they toying with us? Who is this woman, and how is she connected to Enceladus?"

Reyna's eyebrows pushed together as she pulled her jacket tighter around her, the wind cutting through the fabric with ease. "Enceladus?"

"I mean…" Piper's voice shook. "That's one of the giants. At least, one of the ones I remember."

She could tell that Piper was lying, but she decided that it had been a rough day. It might be better not to press her. Besides, if she did know something, she would have told them.

"Well, I don't have a clue about Enchiladas-" Leo began.

"Enceladus," Piper corrected.

"Yeah, sure, whatever. But the sludge lady mentioned another name. Porpoise Fear? Pour Fear On?"

"Porphyrion?" Pipe asked. "He was the king of the giants, I think. Like how Zeus was in charge of the gods, he was in charge of the giants."

For some reason, Reyna kept seeing a dark spire, the one that was growing beside Hera's cage. After a moment, her mind put two and two together.

"Let me take a wild guess here." She said, glancing over at Piper. "In the old stories, Porphyrion kidnapped Hera, and that was what kick started the war between the giants and the gods."

Piper nodded. "I think so. But those myths are really garbled and conflicted. It's almost like nobody wanted to remember what actually happened. All I know for sure was that there was a war, and the giants were nearly impossible to kill."

"Heroes and gods had to work together. That's what Hera told me."

"Kinda hard to do." Leo muttered. "Since, y'know, the gods won't even talk to us."

At that, the trio fell silent and Leo turned back around, fitting his feet back into the stirrups. They flew west across various cities, each indistinguishable from the next, causing Reyna to retreat to her thoughts. She wasn't sure how long it was before Festus lowered them below a cloud, changing the view.

Instead of what used to be clouds, there was a large skyline, with skyscrapers and apartment buildings protruding into the clouds. Behind them were snow covered neighborhoods, snow still looking fresh, as if they had just missed the storm.

"Chicago." Reyna said, glancing out at the city.

She couldn't help but think about what Hera had warned. Her mortal enemy would be here, waiting. If she was going to die, it was going to be by her hand.

Reyna hoped that it would at least be over with soon.

"One problem down," Leo said, glancing over his shoulder. "We got here alive. Now how do we find the storm spirits?"

Movement from below caught Reyna's eye, and she looked down expecting a bird. Instead, the figure spun around before flying ahead, turning into a horse.

_Venti._

Raising a hand, she pointed straight at the horse. "I say we follow that one." This proved to be much harder than Reyna had figured it would be.

The vetus moved without boundaries, barley having to move to dodge a building or turn. The hulking metal dragon wasn't nearly as miniscule or flexible, and it took longer to catch up each time than it had the first.

"Speed up, we'll lose them!" Reyna called to Leo, determined not to lose it.

"Dude," Leo said, casting her a look. "If I get any closer, he's going to see Festus. Bronze dragon ain't exactly a stealth plane, you know."

"Slow down!" Piper yelled from the back, causing him to groan.

The storm spirit turned, leading them straight into downtown Chicago. Even with the mist, she wasn't sure how the mortals didn't notice the hulking metal dragon flying above them.

"Get above the buildings," Reyna suggested. "We could see him better from here."

"Do _you_ want to drive?" Leo shouted, but he forced Festus to gain altitude, following the spirit from a distance instead of on its tail.

They followed the spirit around for a few minutes, noticing that it had no pattern as it flew. It would run over pedestrians, flags, and even push a few cars out of the way if it got too close to one.

"There's another!" Piper called, and sure enough, another ventus appeared, flying around with the first, creating a double helix as they flew around.

As they flew, more and more spirits were gaining, forming a small group. They were all converging as they reached a small park, swirling around a huge public art installation.

"Which one do you think is Dylan?" Leo asked, his eyes locked on the ventus. "I want to throw something at him."

Reyna chose not to answer him as she watched the piece of art they'd chosen to stop at. The closer they got, the faster her heart beat, the more shaky she became. It looked eerily similar to the pool in the Wolf House- the one where Hera had been imprisoned. Oddly enough, there were televisions all around it- and when she made out the image, it was of a woman with her eyes closed.

"Leo…" Reyna warned.

"I see her." He said, his face tightening. "I don't like her, but I see her."

Before they could get any closer, the screens flicked one and then turned off, almost like a signal. The storm spirits whirled together into a single gust, knocking off the fountain's drain cover, before disappearing down the drain.

"Did they just go down a drain?" Piper asked, looking incredulous. "How are we going to follow them?"

"I say we don't." Leo replied. "That fountain is giving me some seriously bad vibes. Besides, aren't we supposed to 'beware the earth' and all that other mumbo jumbo that tree huggers would hate?"

She agreed with him, but at the same time, she knew that they had to follow. It was two days until the solstice, when Hera had to be freed or the world would end.

Sighing, she shook her head. "Put us down in the park. We'd better check it out on foot."

When they landed, Leo had pulled a whistle from his bag and told Festus to find them when he blew it. From there, they'd managed to huddle and make it to the fountain, their breath easily visible in the cold.

The fountain was pretty, and normally Reyna would have wanted to stay and read the small plaque that was shimmering next to it. However, at the moment, all she wanted was out of the cold. It was probably only about thirty or fourty degrees- it wasn't enough to make Piper or Leo need more than a jacket, but to her, it was as if someone had dunked her in a pool, then shoved her out into a blizzard. She must've came from somewhere warm.

Down the drain was a small utility ladder, daring them to climb.

"I'll go first." She muttered, grabbing the ladder rungs and lowering herself down. Surprisingly, the sewer didn't smell as bad as she was expecting- or maybe she'd just frozen her nostrils.

Reaching the bottom, she noticed that the tunnel was made of brick, a small stream of water parting the middle. It was dry and oddly warm inside, which was just fine with her.

Piper and Leo were next, each with a look of surprise.

"Are all sewers this nice?" She asked.

"No." He said, shaking his head. "Trust me."

The daughter of Bellona raised an eyebrow. "How do you know-"

"Hey dude, I ran away six times. I've slept in some pretty frickin' weird places, alright? Now, which way do we go?"

She paused for a moment, before nodding to the left tunnel. "South. There's a draft going that way."

It wasn't that good of a lead, but it was the best she could think of. It turned out to be impossibly hard to track a dozen spirits who had morphed into one being that left zero footprints behind.

As they began to walk, Piper began to stumble, nearly losing her balance and falling into the median. Reyna just barely caught her in time.

"Stupid ankle." Piper muttered.

"Let's rest." Reyna said, glancing over to Leo. "We all could use it. We've been going nonstop for over a day. Leo, can that tool belt make anything to eat?"

He grinned. "I thought you'd never ask!"

He set to work as Reyna helped Piper sit, their backs pressed up against the bricks. Once she was good, she slid in next to her. She was glad for the rest- she was still dizzy from the blow to the head, and she was definitely hungry. Most of all, she was worried about this woman they were to face. Her mortal enemy, Hera had said. That was never good.

Reyna rolled her ring in her fingers, studying what she now guessed to be the symbol of Bellona, the crossed spear and sword that represented her mother. As she traced the design, she wondered if her mother was watching her now, if she was angry with Hera for stealing her daughter's memories.

"It wasn't your fault." Piper said, startling her from her thoughts.

"What?" She asked, startled out of her thoughts.

"Getting jumped by the Cyclops. It wasn't your fault."

Reyna looked down at the ring in her palm, ready to shift into her spear at a moment's notice. "I was stupid. I shouldn't have left you alone and walked into a trap. I should have known…"

She couldn't finish her sentence, the words refusing to slip out of her mouth. There were too many things she should have known- all empty files, as if the papers had been ripped and thrown about, then printed to another language as a precaution. Hera claimed that this was helpful, but was it? She began to see why Percy wanted to leave Hera locked up.

"Hey," Piper chided. "Stop beating yourself up. Just because you're a daughter of a war goddess doesn't mean you have to fight all your battles alone, you know."

A few feet away, Leo had managed to set a fire, which quickly grew among the small pile of sticks he'd gathered.

"I know this must suck for you guys." Reyna said finally. "Not just this quest, I mean. The way that I appeared on the bus, making you all think… well, that we knew each other, I guess."

Piper shrugged, hesitant to meet her eyes. "Yeah, well, it's not your fault."

For some reason, Reyna couldn't stop seeing Piper in her dress, her makeup and hair done up by her mother. It was so familiar, and yet, tinged with some distinct emotion- bitterness. She liked this Piper better, with her ratty snowboard jacket, her hair in dozens of small braids, someone who didn't press her.

"Back in the factory, you were going to say something about your dad." She said.

Piper twirled a piece of her hair in her fingers. "Was I?"

"Piper." She said firmly, her tone one that was no-nonsense. "He's in trouble, isn't he?"

A cackle interrupted them. Leo was the source, laughing as he pushed some food around a pan with a clean screwdriver. "Yeah, baby! Nearly there."

"Reyna… I can't talk about it, okay?" She murmured, looking down.

"We're your friends. Let us help you."

Her eyes shut as she let out a breath, almost painfully. "I wish I could, alright? But-"

"Bingo!" Leo cheered.

Walking over to the pair, he'd managed to stack three plates full of food. Just looking at it made Reyna's mouth water- beef tacos, bell peppers, and even chips and salsa. She had no idea how he'd managed to make that much food in only a few minutes, but she wasn't going to argue.

"By the way, Beauty Queen, it's tofu. Not beef. So don't freak, just dig in!"

As they ate, Leo goofed around and cracked jokes, lightening the mood. Still, Reyna was unable to shake the feeling that they weren't far from a disaster.

Turns out, she was right.


	15. XV

Somehow Piper managed to fall asleep in the sewer, leaving Reyna and Leo alone.

Despite his constant jokes, Reyna could tell that he was bothered about something, mostly due to the way that he constantly poking at the fire.

"Food's good, huh?" Leo asked, wiggling his eyebrows.

"Yeah. You could start a stand or something." Reyna replied, but her heart wasn't into it. Watching the fire, she remembered Piper's story, about how Leo had been able to control fire. "Leo… about this fire stuff you can do… is it true?"

The tension grew as he looked down, his eyes drawing away from hers. "Yeah," Slowly, he uncurled his hand, and a small ball of fire lit across his palm, like a match striking.

"That's amazing," she said, watching the flames. "Why didn't you say anything?"

Leo shrugged, closing his hand back into a fist. "Didn't want to look like a freak."

"Piper can suddenly speak French and charm people into giving her cars." She reminded, raising an eyebrow. "I was able to judo flip a guy that I should not have been able to judo flip, and that was after I beat him in combat, which also should not have been possible. You are no more of a freak than we are. Maybe you'll even learn to use it for good."

She saw the amusement creep up on his face. "What, like that one movie- what was it, Fantastic Four? Where the guy set himself on fire and flew around?" He snorted. "If I did that, you'd see a flaming kid falling to his death. Besides, Nyssa told me they're super rare. When a demigod like me comes around, bad things happen."

"Maybe it's the other way around. People with these gifts show up in hard times."

Not meeting her eyes, Leo cleared away their plates. "Maybe. But I'm telling you… it isn't always a gift."

She was silent for a few moments, before looking back to him, her face soft. "You're talking about your mom, aren't you? The night she died."

Silence. Not even a glance from Leo, which meant that she was probably right.

"Her death wasn't your fault. Whatever happened that night- it wasn't because you could summon fire. It was because this woman has been trying to ruin you for years, take away everything you care about. She wants you to feel like a failure so you'll give up before you even start. You aren't a failure, Leo. You're important."

"That's what she said." Leo said finally, looking her in the eyes. "That I would do something important for the prophecy, something that I'm not so sure I'm up to."

There was a long silence, and Reyna couldn't think of a reply. She didn't need her memory to know that she'd never been too good with emotions.

"You ever wonder about the other five demigods?" Leo asked. "I mean… if we're three of the eight for the Great Prophecy- who are the others? Where are they?"

She didn't admit that she had thought of it, and quite often. The idea freaked her out, that she might have to lead a quest of eight powerful demigods. Wasn't exactly something that sounded like fun, especially since Boreas had promised that they'd tear eachother apart if anything went wrong.

Reyna had been trained not to show fear. She'd learned that from her dreams with the wolves. She was a leader, which she'd suspected- she knew how to force down her emotions and appear confident, aspiring her soldiers to fight and not cower from the enemy. But this idea of leading a group of herself and seven others- that would make things a lot harder.

"I don't know. They might even not know about the prophecy yet." The daughter of Bellona replied finally. "Who knows? Maybe they're off on their own quest right now."

Leo grunted. "I bet their sewer is nicer than ours."

At this, Reyna managed to crack a smile, her tough exterior rippling. "Go to sleep, Leo. I'll take the first watch."

Reyna never slept, but Leo and Piper did, totaling at about four hours.

When they woke up, they all broke camp quickly and silently before following the draft, where the storm spirits had disappeared to.

She wasn't sure what she expected to find, but it was definitely _not_ a giant pair of elevator doors, painted bright pink with a large letter M on the door.

"Macy's?" Piper guessed, shrugging. "I think they have one in downtown Chicago."

"Or Monocle Motors still?" Leo asked, slightly on edge. "Guys, read the directory. That's messed up."

Most of it seemed normal- parking, kennels, and main entrance were at sewer level, furnishings and Café M level one, but that was where it got weird. Level two was Women's clothing and magical appliances, three was men's and weapons, and finally, level four was cosmetics, potions, poisons, and sundries.

"Kennels for what?" Piper questioned. "And what kind of a department store has an entrance in a sewer?"

"Beauty queen, is that really what bothers you?" Leo asked, giving her a look. "Not the poisons, or the weapons, or even the potions? It's the kennels that bother you? And the sewer?"

Reyna sighed, and hit the fourth button. "Might as well start at the top."

They stepped in and the elevator started, the doors sliding open as they reached the fourth floor. Gripping her spear in hand, Reyna stepped out first, an eyebrow raising.

"Guys, you need to see this."

Piper and Leo fanned out on either side of her, and gasped. "This is totally not a Macy's."

Below them were three lower levels, like tiers on a cake. The store was painted white, every railing or accent a bright gold. The ceiling above them was stained glass of every color, turning the room into a kaleidoscope. Everything was washed in a bright color from the glass, turning the clear glass escalators into a rainbow.

On each balcony was a different array of things, ranging from normal department store to downright illegal. Down on the bottom floor was a large golden fountain, spitting fresh water into the small pool allotted for it, thousands of coins sparkling underneath the surface.

Cautiously, Leo stepped forward and peered over the railing. "Check this out."

The fountain water began to shift, changing into a bright red. A few seconds later, it had changed to a dark purple. It kept shifting, every so often going back to clear.

Beside it, however, were a dozen cages that varied in sizes from house cat to fifteen thousand pound grizzly bear. A few venti spun in the regular sized ones, and in the third was none other than a small, buff satyr, holding a club and looking extremely angry.

"Coach Hedge!" Piper said. "We've got to get down there."

"May I help you find something?" A voice called from behind them.

The trio jumped as if they had been suddenly plugged into a light socket. The woman had somehow appeared behind them, without a single footstep warning of her presence. She looked about fifty years old, wore a long black dress and a matching hat, her brown hair tucked up inside it. Diamonds glittered all over her wrinkled skin- at her neck, on her wrists, her ears, and her fingers. She was gorgeous, but there was something about her face that made Reyna immediately distrust this woman, even if she did look like a retired supermodel.

When nobody answered, she pressed again. "I'm so happy to see new customers. How may I help you?"

Both Piper and Leo gave Reyna a glance, one that pointedly said _this one's on you_.

Biting the inside of her cheek, she looked over to the woman. "Is this your store?"

She nodded. "When I found it, it was completely abandoned. Apparently, many stores are these days. I decided that this one I would simply not let go to waste. I love collecting tasteful objects, helping people, offering goods at a reasonable price. So this seemed like the perfect first acquisition in this country."

Her voice was pleasing, her accent obviously not American. However, as she spoke, Reyna could feel the hairs on the back of her neck beginning to stand up, her back tensing. Something was not right.

Looking over, she noticed that Piper had felt it, too. She didn't look like she trusted this woman one bit. Leo, on the other hand, was nodding, his hands barely fiddling around, which might have been the oddest part.

Realizing the pause, Reyna spoke. "So you're new to America?"

"I am new," the woman said, with a small nod. "I am the Princess of Colchis. My friends call me Your Highness. Now, what are you looking for?"

"Right." She said, glancing back over the railing. "That's our friend down there, Gleeson Hedge. The satyr. Could we… have him back? I mean, please?"

"Of course!" The princess agreed. "I would love to show you my entire inventory. First, may I know your names?"

Instantly, she hesitated. On one hand, telling the princess their names was nowhere near close to a good idea. Reyna didn't trust her, especially with the way she spoke. But on the other, not telling her would probably not get her to help them.

"I wouldn't-" Piper began, before she was cut off.

"This is Piper!" Leo said, gesturing towards her. "That's Reyna, and I'm Leo."

For a split second, her eyes hesitated on the three of them, a scowl barely having time to set into her features before it was gone, replaced instead by a dazzling smile as if it had never been there in the first place.

"I think we will have to make a special deal for you. Come, children. Let's go shopping."

As little as she wanted to, Reyna followed behind the woman as she led them away, her hand held out expectantly for them to follow. Her heels clicked as she walked against the floor, opposed to the scuffling noises of Leo's sneakers as he raced after her.

They were led across the top floor to a giant rack of shelves, which resembled a large library. Of course, there were no actual books on the shelves, but rather dozens of vials. Each glowed brightly with a different color, each one different from the next.

"Shall we start with the potions?" The princess asked, giving them an amused look.

"Cool." Leo said, shuffling after her.

"Guys," Piper interrupted, obviously talking more to Leo than Reyna. "we're here to get the storm spirits and Coach Hedge. If this princess is really our friend-"

"Oh, I'm not a friend, dear. I'm a saleswoman." She smiled back at Piper, but there was a coldness in her eyes, a hard line in the middle of her smile that made her want to take two steps back. She managed to hold her ground, but only barely. "We'll make our way down to the first floor eventually."

Holding out her hand to the rows of potions, she smiled wide. "These are the finest assortment of magical mixtures anywhere."

As they got closer, Reyna noticed that the vials were all shaped differently- some were squares and circles, others shaped like hearts or swans, even a tree. Some smelled wonderful, a mix of honey and vanilla, while others smelled like Leo's dirty tools.

Selecting a bright red test tube, the princess held it up to them. "This one will cure anything." Seeing Leo's wondrous look, she traded it out for the swan vial, the liquid inside a bright blue. "This one can kill you very painfully."

"Awesome." Leo murmured, his voice detached.

Piper and Reyna shared a worried look as the princess once again traded the vials.

"We also have potions for resisting fire-"

"I've got that covered." He murmured.

"Indeed?" The woman looked him over with renewed interest. "You don't appear to be wearing my trademark sunscreen… no matter. We also have potions for blindness, insanity, sleep-"

"Wait." Piper said, her eyes locked on the last vial. "Could that cure lost memory?"

At that, Reyna too looked at the small red test tube, winking at her in the light. The idea that it could bring back her memories made Reyna hopeful, before she forced herself to think rationally. There would be catch- something none of them could do.

The woman narrowed her eyes at Piper. "Possibly. Well, yes. Why, dear? Do you need to remember something important?"

She could see the gears working in Piper's mind, and she wanted to yell _don't do it!_

"How much?" She asked, and Reyna resisted the urge to cut her off.

The princess looked up at the skylight, her eyes misty. "Well, price is tricky. I love helping people, honestly. And I always keep my bargains, but some people will try to cheat me." She looked over the three of them again. "Once, for instance, I met a handsome young man who wanted a treasure from my father's kingdom. We made a bargain, and I promised to steal it."

"From your own dad?" Leo asked, the dreamy look on his face fading slightly.

"Oh, no worries." She spoke, her voice light. "I demanded a high price. The man had to take me away with him. He was good looking, dashing, strong… I am sure, my dears, that you understand how one might be attracted to such a hero, and want to help him."

Getting no reaction, she looked away from them again, over to her potions. "At any rate, my hero had to do many impossible tasks, and it's not bragging when I say they couldn't have been done without me. But yet, he still cheated me of my payment."

"Cheated?" Reyna asked, her eyebrow raising.

"That's messed up." Leo agreed, back in his trance.

"So, for the vial, Your Highness." Piper cut in. "How much?"

The woman walked a few steps to Piper, looking her over like someone might to a new dress. "Would you give anything for it? I sense you would."

That's when she felt it again, the surge of power in the woman's voice. Without knowing how, Reyna recognized it as charmspeak. She wanted to grab her friends and run, sure that anything this woman said would be lies.

"No." Piper said, her voice firm. "Not any price. A fair one, maybe. After that, we have to leave. Right, guys?"

Reyna nodded, stepping in with her.

"Piper's right. We really need to get going, we're wasting time."

"You mean… After shopping?" Leo asked, looking at the both of them with pleading eyes, as if it would change their minds.

The princess, however, was looking at the pair of them with a smile on her face, newfound respect in her gaze. "Impressive. I've never seen too many who could resist my suggestions. Are you a child of Aphrodite, dear? Ah, yes, I should have seen it. But you," She said, turning on Reyna. "You aren't."

Her eyes narrowed for a heartbeat, before they widened. "Oh. One of Circe's attendants, then. That would make sense. Not as immune as Piper, although much higher tolerance."

_Circe_.

The name made Reyna's knees go weak.

"I'm- what?" She said, the words jumbled in her brain. Yet clear as day, she could also hear Lupa's voice, persistent and calm.

_You are the sorcerer's attendant turned warrior_.

"No matter." The princess spoke, smiling widely at her. "Perhaps we should shop a while longer before you decide what to buy, huh?"

Her volume didn't raise, but somehow, her words were as forceful as if she'd shoved her. Suddenly, all of her fear melted away, the weight of it lifting off her shoulders as she blinked rapidly. Of course they should look around! There was no harm here.

Everything she had worried about was suddenly gone, and she smiled back at the woman, feeling her eyes became hazy but not minding.

"Sure." She said.

"Excellent!" The woman led the three of them away from the potions and instead to the next level down.

Once they reached it, she turned and smiled wide. "Leo, Reyna- why don't you two go check out the clothing? We'll be right along."

Then she was moving towards the clothes without a second thought.

Reyna only had a single spark of fear, a second to think that something wasn't good, before it was replaced and she was walking, the feeling having been drowned away by trust of this woman's voice.

* * *

**A/N: So this is where I left off last time I updated, and I've now finished fixing all of the previous chapters! Thanks to the four day weekend, you can expect the next chapter in the next few days! Xo, Lauren**


	16. XVI

As Piper spoke with the woman, Reyna and Leo browsed the clothing.

There were dozens of racks just in the immediate area, each one filled to the brim with a random assortment of clothes. Some were obviously expensive, weaved with silk and golden fabric, while others were ripped and torn, as if the wearer had lived through a bear attack.

Over the haze, Reyna could see that Piper and the saleswoman were obviously in the middle of a deep conversation, but through the enchantment, she couldn't tear herself away enough to listen to what they were saying.

At least, not until she found the shirt.

The first thing she saw was the dark purple of the sleeve. Pulling it from between a large fur coat, the next thing that caught her eye was the fact that there were three large tears down the middle, a dark red on either side. In the middle of the shirt was four letters in gold, something that had been faded from her own shirt- SPQR, surrounded by a ring of golden laurels.

It was enough to shake her from her daze as she looked to Piper, holding the shirt up.

"Piper, look at this," She called, before the woman met her eyes. It was as if there was something in her eyes,

Piper looked slightly horrified, but quickly hid the expression from her face. Turning towards her and Leo, she forced herself to appear calm. Glancing at the woman carefully, her demeanor changed, as if she were coming up with a plan.

"Your Highness, why don't you tell my friends more of your story? I mean, I don't understand how you could have been cheated out of your deal. After all, the hero you spoke of married you and kept his side of the bargain, didn't he?" Piper's words had an underlying tone of anger.

The woman's face grew sad, and Reyna felt her own face mirroring the expression. What was Piper doing, making the poor old woman upset? It was completely rude of her.

"At first, he did keep his deal. Afterwards, however, he still used me for my connections. As we tried to flee Colchis, we were stopped by my brother's fleet. He came aboard our ship under a flag of truce."

"And you killed him. Your own brother."

The words sent an unpleasant shock through Reyna, and she felt herself gaining more control.

"What?" Leo said, shaking his head. "That's messed up."

"No." The lady snapped, and the awareness in Leo's eyes faded. "My husband killed my brother, but of course, it's much better for him if it were me, isn't it? I allowed for it to happen, although, and yet, my husband still betrayed me in the end. You should know this story, my dears- after all, what heroes don't?" Her voice was bitter.

"Jason." Piper said, shaking her head. "Jason was your husband. You're Medea."

"That I am." Medea agreed, her eyes latching onto Reyna and Leo. "You two understand, though, don't you? You'd do the same for someone you loved."

Her words were poisoned with magic, and neither of them stood a chance to resist. They both muttered agreements, sounding like a pair of possessed robots.

"Come, children. Let's go look at your satyr friend, why don't we?"

Reyna followed on her heels, with Leo and Piper trailing behind. They spoke too rapidly for her to hear, but she was hardly paying attention as they did so.

As they reached the bottom floor, Leo grinned. "Coach Hedge looks just fine!" Despite only having known him for about an hour, Reyna had to agree. He had on his polo shirt and his club in his hand, a sour expression on his face. The only difference was that now he wore no pants, and had the furry legs of a goat, horns peeking out from under his hat.

"What do we have to do for him?" He asked, the smile still on his face.

"Now that's the hard part, you see. Freedom is very valuable- and this satyr attacked my storm spirits. I'm not unreasonable, though, as my patron ordered me to send the spirits after you. The price will be high, but not impossibly so."

"No." Piper said, her voice every bit as forceful as Medea's. "You're one of the most evil villains in Greek mythology. Guys, we can't trust her."

Leo scowled, and Reyna felt herself starting to free from the spell. "So you're really three thousand years old? Back from the dead, and all that?" Reyna's question was stupid, even to her, but it was the most she could manage.

"You all have no idea what is going on, do you?" She taunted, shaking her head. "My patron allowed me to live again after she deemed me worthy. I was brought back from death in order to get a second chance at everything I was cheated out of before. I assure you, I will not be cheated again."

"We need to go." Piper ordered. "Now."

"Not just yet, my dear." Placing a hand on the gold rim on the fountain, Medea beamed at the three of them. "Did you know that this fountain is magic? If a dead man were to be thrown in, he would come back to life even more powerful than before."

Before Piper could get a word in edgewise, Medea looked to Leo and Reyna, her eyes blazing. "My price is simple. The two of you fight, and if one of you gets injured, we'll just toss you into the fountain! Then you can take your storm spirits and your satyr and be on your way. I mean, you do want to fight, don't you? You can't stand one another!"

As soon as she made the suggestion, Reyna felt a scowl set into her face, her eyes locking on Leo. Suddenly, just the sight of him made her want to scream. How hadn't she noticed before? Of course she couldn't stand him, how could she?

"Reyna's always bossing me around and acting like she's in charge of us. She always gets the attention and takes me for granted." He spit his words at her, reaching into his bag and pulling out a hammer, which made her immediately go for her ring.

"At least I'm not annoying." She shot back, her eyes carving a hole into him. "You can't take anything seriously, and you can't even fix the dragon, which was your only job!"

Before they could start attacking, Medea paused to speak to Piper, and it was if they'd froze. Everything was oddly fuzzy, and she could only make out parts of the conversation- Medea's vision of the prophecy of eight leading to the death of Leo's mom, Piper's father being trapped in Oakland, and Medea's patron being even more powerful than a giant.

"Now, Leo, fight her." Medea cackled, unfreezing them. "And Reyna, attack him with everything you've got. I want this to be a good fight to the death."

They launched themselves at each other, Leo swinging a wide arc at her head with the hammer. She managed to duck out of the way, slamming into him with her shoulder. He flew to the ground, allowing her to raise her spear.

Everything in her was screaming, wanting her to end the fight now. However, she couldn't force her hand to throw the spear. A tiny voice in the back of her head nagged at her, and she shook off the feeling, bringing her arm back.

Before she could release it, Piper's voice raised above the haziness, screaming her name. "She's manipulating you! You don't want to fight each other, you want to fight her!"

It was as if Piper had cut them loose, all of the haze fading as the pair of them regained control.  
"Damn it," Reyna growled. She'd thought that resisting would be much easier, and yet, she'd almost just put a spear through one of her friend's throat.

"Something about my mother?" Leo spoke, his gaze hardening. She'd never thought she'd have called him terrifying, but look in his eyes was definitely that. "You're working for the potty sludge woman. You killed my mother. Good thing I brought this hammer just for you, then."

Reyna slashed with her spear, but the woman had managed to skid out of the way just in time. "Good luck with that, my dears." Reaching the kennels, she undid the latches for two of the cages, before backing out the way.

Two solid gold dragons flew out, each one steaming, as if their insides were on fire. Their eyes were a bright orange, attempting to lock onto their target. She remembered the legend around them- that they were gifts from Helios, and a single look from them would not just paralyze the enemy, but would render them completely unable to move or think.

As Medea ran off, Reyna glanced at Piper over her shoulder. "Don't look them in the eyes! Piper, go after her!"

As she ran off, she grasped her spear and looked to Leo.

"I got dibs on the right one!" He yelled, before pulling out a screwdriver and lobbing it. Either by sheer luck or skill, the thing stuck into its back, resembling a shark's fin.

Grinning, he set his hand on fire and sent a ball of it at the shelves, setting the whole thing on fire, a few of the vials exploding violently.

Reyna smiled as she turned onto the other dragon, running and lunging at it with her spear. She managed to get in a few more runs at it before she heard Leo yelling her name.

As she turned, she saw that he was pinned by the dragon, his eyes closed shut to avoid glancing into it's eyes. Before she could go to his aid, however, the skylight exploded, and Festus emerged from the wreckage, breathing fire at one of the smaller dragons, causing it to hiss and shrink away.

"That's my boy!" Leo whooped.

Shrinking her spear, Reyna ran as fast as she could at the dragon, launching herself up and into the seat. Leo was already in place, hitting some buttons and allowing Festus to secure the cages. It took only a few seconds before they were in place, and began to rise in altitude.

"There's Piper!" She yelled, seeing her jumping from the top floor. Leo rose the dragon up, and she held out her hand for the other girl, catching her just in time and pulling her up.

"Get us out of here!" Piper yelled, and they managed to in the nick of time, the building imploding as they made it out of the way.

* * *

As they flew out of Chicago, Reyna was silent, arms crossed over her chest.

Although Piper had tried to talk to her several times, she'd simply waved her off, giving an excuse. She felt guilty that she'd been unable to break out of the spell, and even worse that she'd nearly killed Leo at Medea's suggestion. They were friends, and yet, she'd been ready to spear him as soon as she'd given her the go ahead.

As she glanced ahead, she noticed the white light trail that Festus seemed to be following. It was an odd invention, but if they'd been following it since Chicago, then obviously Leo had a plan.

"We'll be there in a couple more hours," Leo called, not looking back. "We'll have to make a stop before that, but we're not far now."

Piper leaned forward, nodding. "Sounds good. We should find out how to release Coach Hedge, too. But where are we going, anyways?"

"Bay Area." Leo replied. "Didn't Medea say something about Oakland?"

She was surprised that he remembered that, especially since she hadn't. Most of the things that Medea had said was hazy to Reyna, but at the mention of Oakland, she remembered the odd pause that had happened right before the fight. She wondered why she hadn't remembered it.

"Wasn't it something about your dad?" Reyna asked. Both Leo and Piper jumped slightly at her voice, looking to her over their shoulders. Had she really not said anything for that long? "It was something about him being trapped."

Piper shook her head, brushing one of her braids behind her ear. "We can't go to Oakland, alright? Medea said you would both die there. Besides, we need to drop the storm spirits off with Aeolus- he's the only one who knows where we need to go."

"So how do we find _him_?" The irritation was plain in Leo's voice.

"Wait, you don't see it?" Reyna questioned, leaning forward in her saddle. Holding out her hand, she pointed to the thin light trail, but it became obvious that they couldn't see it. "The glowing trail in the air. The one we've been following since we left."

Leo shook his head, and Piper stared at her, probably thinking that she'd hit her head too hard.

"Festus must sense it. Aeolus probably made it, and he's leading us to his place." He suggested. She nodded in agreement.

"Or a trap." Piper spoke, her eyes dark.

It was obvious she was thinking of her father, even if she wouldn't say a word to them about it. She cut them off and told them she needed rest, and promptly went to sleep. Watching Leo, she noticed the way his head lolled, as if he was halfway to falling asleep himself.

"You should sleep. I can watch the trail."

He shook his head. "I'm alright-"

"No, you're not. You're gonna fall asleep on me in about ten seconds. Just sleep." He sighed, but didn't protest any longer, handing the reins over to Reyna.

"Wake me up in like an hour, okay?"

"Sure." She replied, watching him settle in, but had no intention of doing so.

With both of them asleep, Reyna shifted so that she could watch the cities as they flew across the country. Seeing how high up they were still made her stomach drop, but it was slowly growing on her, allowing her to watch without wanting to puke.

As much as she tried to avoid it, her mind kept straying back to Medea. Despite the fact that being in her shop had brought back memories, they were filled with fear and hatred. Circe had been a sorcerer, and Reyna had been one of her attendants, training in magic. Something had happened, and soon enough, she'd been kidnapped.

Those memories were the worst- she couldn't remember anything solid, only bits and pieces, each one more painful than the last. She forced herself to stop, but the worst had already settled in. Instead, she focused on the happy things- Camp Half Blood, Leo and Piper, and her scattered memories of Jason Grace.

Time passed much faster after that, the skyline starting to shift colors, the light blue fading quickly, engulfed by the dark of the night.

Leaning forward, she moved to slide her backpack off of her shoulders when Festus dropped suddenly, losing a solid twenty feet before steadying back out.

Piper jerked awake, glancing back to Reyna wildly. "What was that?!"

"I don't know." She replied, equally as confused. Grabbing the reins, the dragon dropped again, causing the two girl to grab on as tightly as they could. "I don't know what to do!"

Leo, meanwhile, was somehow still fast asleep.

Piper grabbed his shoulder and shook it, but he stayed unconscious, muttering about Wheel of Fortune and the prophecy.

This time, when the dragon dropped, he didn't steady back out. They continued to fall through the clouds like a basket cut from it's hot air balloon.

It wasn't until they began to scream that Leo finally jerked awake, taking in their situation quickly.

"Hand me the reins!" He yelled. Reyna obliged, throwing them back to him without protest. Leo caught them easily, before fumbling with the buttons. His face was grim when he finally looked back to them.

"If all three of us stay on this thing, we're not gonna make it," He called back to them.

"Piper and I can jump." Reyna replied, earning a startled look from Piper. "There's snow on the ground, and if we get closer, we should be able to make it!"

Leo nodded quickly. "I'll try and land Festus, but I doubt it will work. All of his circuits are going haywire."

"Good luck," Reyna told him, before taking Piper's hand. "Once we jump, you have to tuck your head in and roll, like a somersault. It's going to hurt, but if we roll we won't break anything."

Although she nodded, her face expressed that she was not into the plan.

"Come on, we need to jump..." She glanced over the side, pausing as the ground got closer and closer. Finally, when it looked like a survivable fall, she screamed "Now!"

As the three of them fell towards the earth, Reyna remembered the first time they'd fallen from the sky on Festus, and was overwhelmed by the sense of deja vu that followed.

She just hoped that this time would turn out a lot better.

* * *

**A/N: And here you go! Very excited to be updating. Sorry if this chapter seems a little choppy, I couldn't get some parts to sound right. I will probably update again soon due to the long weekend, and then I'll attempt to do once a week! Please let me know what you think, and thank you for all your reviews and support, it means a lot! :) **


	17. XVII

When Reyna woke up, she was laying in the middle of a pile of snow.

Groaning, she pulled herself to her feet, brushing the slush from her eyes. A few feet away from her was Piper, who was trying to stand. She didn't remember much of their landing- it had been good enough that they were both alive and relatively unharmed. Strangely enough, she thought that she'd heard gunshots on the way down- something she knew must've been imagined.

Making her way over to Piper, she held out a hand to help the other girl up. "You okay?" She gave her a quick nod, grabbing her hand and attempting to keep herself upright.

Off to their left was a pillar of smoke, while just further beyond it was a large house. It was older, with Victorian windows and dark green paint. It was surrounded by a large gate, the smoke rising from just in front of it. Squinting, Reyna could make out what looked to be a golden heap of metal, which she quickly realized was Festus.

"I think I see Leo," She spoke, before dragging herself towards the wreckage, with Piper limping after her. As they got closer, she noticed that the gold she'd seen was Festus's head, the rest of his body completely dismembered and scattered across the lawn.

As they reached the center of the smoke, she saw Leo face down in the snow, completely unconscious. Placing a hand on his shoulder, she felt him shift, his eyes fluttering open. As he rolled onto his back, she could see that his face was covered in dirt and grime, a thick line of machine grease across his forehead. He looked like he'd been through a warzone- and the flash of her own reflection in his eyes revealed that she looked more or less the same way.

Realization cleared away the haze in Leo's eyes almost immediately, causing him to sit straight up. "Where is he? Where's Festus?"

Reyna's face dropped, and Leo looked at her with horror. Pushing himself to his feet, he stumbled towards the major parts of the wreckage. To the left was the three cages, each of which unharmed, most likely due to some magic enchantment, Everything else was completely destroyed, with wires and chunks of metal all over. The only thing that had managed to stay mostly in one piece was the head, the red eyes flickering like a flame on it's last ember.

"No." Leo murmured, kneeling beside the head, moonlight reflecting off the tears in his eyes. Then he paused, as if listening to something. If she focused, Reyna could hear a dull clicking that seemed to be coming from the dragon.

After a long moment, he placed his hand on the Festus's head and nodded, his face mournful. "I promise, buddy." The light flickered out, and Leo closed his eyes, mouthing something. The girls locked eyes but said nothing, not wanting to interrupt.

Once he'd stood, the wind began to pick up, blowing Reyna's hair out of it's braid. Brushing it from her eyes, she watched as the head began to glow gold, before disintegrating and being cast off with the wind. She stared in awe, watching as the dust took off.

"What was that?" Piper asked, mouth open in shock.

"My father told me that everything can be reused." Leo told them quietly, the wind fading. "I asked him to take Festus back to camp."

"You talked to your father?" Piper looked as confused as Reyna felt.

"Yeah, in a dream. I'll tell you about it later. First, where are we?"

Reyna wished she knew. It was nowhere close to California, which she could deduce from the piles of snow that surrounded them. It was freezing cold, even without humidity in the air. Probably somewhere midwestern, she guessed.

"Omaha, Nebraska. I saw the sign as Reyna and I were falling." She looked around the wreckage, her eyebrows knitted together. "There was something odd, too, as we landed. I could swear I heard something like-"

"Lasers." Reyna finished, remembering the flash of light. Backing up her theory, Leo held up a chunk of metal that was cut in half perfectly, the edges still glowing red. She glanced back to the house, hating the way that it looked in the moonlight, as if someone was inside and waiting for them.

"We're gonna have to go through the creepy house, aren't we?"

The three of them sighed in unison.

* * *

With Leo to disable the traps, it took them only a few minutes to reach the front door of house. He worked silently, pulling a screwdriver from his belt and managing to undo the wiring in seconds. Each time he did so, the alarm would make a small beep before it's light went out, collapsing into a puddle of metal and wires.

As Leo worked on the final laser, Reyna watched carefully, noticing the way that even though he was unable to sit still, his fingers moved with complete accuracy. "I don't know how you do that. It's amazing." She murmured, shaking her head.

He didn't even look back, his face remaining blank as he worked. "Amazing." He scoffed. "Can't even fix a dragon right, but it's amazing."

The words stung, especially since they were an echo of the taunt that she'd used against him in Medea's shop. She wanted to explain to him that they hadn't been what she actually believed or thought, but the look on his face made it clear that he didn't want to hear it. Without meaning to, she felt the hurt leave her face quickly, tucked away without a second thought.

"The door's unlocked." Leo spoke, standing and pressing on the handle. The door swung open without even the slightest protest, and he disappeared inside it.

Piper placed her hand on Reyna's shoulder before she stepped in, her eyes sad. "He's just upset over Festus. He'll need a little while to get over it."

She nodded, but her words didn't make her feel any better.

Glancing back across the yard, she noticed the cages were still there, forgotten by the three of them. "I'll be inside in a second, okay? I'm gonna get the cages." Piper nodded and disappeared into the house.

Trekking back across the lawn, Reyna felt a sense of unease, even with the traps disabled. The air was cold enough to hurt her nose when she breathed, her lungs aching. By the time she got back to the cage, the cold had sapped the heat from her fingertips, coloring them a light blue.

It took her a good fifteen minutes, but the cages were relatively easy to roll. The only obstacle was for the two venti cages, which insisted on swirling around and prying her fingers off the bars as often as possible. In the end, however, she got all three into the house without freezing to death. Once she forced the final cage in and shut the door, she noticed just how lacking the house was in light sources.

"Why is it so dark in here?" Reyna called, barely able to make out the outlines of her friends.

"No light switches. Also, Leo's fire isn't working for some reason." Piper informed, her voice coming from the shadowed figure to her left.

Reyna moved to the couch across from her, laying down on it and staring up at the celing.

"I'll try and get Coach Hedge's cage open." Leo muttered, moving from his spot on the floor towards the cage. He pulled several tools from his belt as he set to work, the occasional scraping accompanying his curses. She ate as she watched him work for a moment, before finishing her food.

Looking at her friends, she couldn't help but wonder how this quest was going to end. Piper was still keeping secrets about her father, not wanting either of them to know. Reyna didn't want to admit how much it bothered her, as if the daughter of Aphrodite didn't trust them. Then there was Leo, who she wanted to comfort, but had no idea how.

Glancing over to him, she met his eyes on accident. He didn't look as upset anymore, though she could see that it was still there.

"I didn't mean the things I said in Chicago." The words tumbled from her mouth, not waiting for her permission. "I don't think that you're annoying or not serious enough. And you are amazing at what you do- I still have no idea how you do it."

She almost thought she heard him laugh a little. "I try very hard to be annoying, you know. Besides, I can't resent you if you try and apologize and all that. You're supposed to be the fearless leader who shows no emotion, alright? Child of war, and all that."

"Fearless leader?" Reyna repeated, raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah, dude! I mean, you're the badass who goes rushing into a fight with a spear, but you don't even have to use it, because they take one look at you and start running-"

"What the hell are you talking about?"

He laughed for real this time. "See, I am annoying. But thanks for the apology. Now go to bed, because it's gonna take me a few hours to get this open, and I can't do it with you looking at me all creepy like."

She cracked a smile, before rolling over on the couch and closing her eyes tightly.

About four hours later, Reyna woke up to the sound of something shattering.

Her body was in motion before her eyes had even opened, her hand going to her ring as she stood off the couch. Before she had to transform it, however, she found the cause of the noise. Coach Hedge stood a few feet away, his club in hand, a destroyed vase on the floor beside him. "Die!" He yelled, swinging the club at a marble bust, sending it into a hundred pieces.

"Coach is awake," Leo called, earning him a sour look from both girls.

"Coach!" Reyna yelled, drawing his attention. There was a haze in his eyes as he first turned to her, looking at her the same way a cornered animal might. After a moment, he seemed to understand and it faded, until he simply looked confused.

"You're the new kid. Reyna." Hedge's eyes narrowed on her, as if he was still unsure of what she was. Then his eyes slid behind her, and he seemed to relax. Glancing over her shoulder, she realized that her friends were behind her, Piper having just woken as well. "McLean, Valdez? What's going on? We were at the Grand Canyon, and then you showed up out of nowhere, and the storm spirits attacked…"

By mentioning the storm spirits, he seemed to suddenly realize what was in the cages, and hefted his club again, knocking Reyna out of the way to charge them.

"Whoa, Coach, chill!" Leo spoke, stepping in front of him and holding up his hands. Somehow, that got him to stop charging and actually listen to their story. After they got past the Grand Canyon part, he let the club fall, no longer holding it in striking position. He looked generally annoyed at most of the story, but perked up when he heard of the quest.

"So you were sent on a dangerous mission to rescue me? Great!"

"Actually," Piper interrupted, looking uneasy. "We're on a quest for something else. We found you kinda by accident."

His energy didn't fade in the slightest. "There's no accidents when it comes to quests, cupcake! Speaking of quests, why are we here? And why is everything gold?"

Reyna's head jerked up, glancing around the room. In the dark, there had been no way to tell, but now that it was morning, everything was visible- including the fact that besides the walls and the floors, nearly everything was gold. There were statues lining the walls, with golden drapes over the windows, a golden chair, and even paintings that seemed to be painted in only gold hues.

Before any of them could speak, the door at the far end of the hall swung open. The man that stepped out was older, with a mop of grey hair underneath his cap. He was short, wearing a white bathrobe, and had a beard that was the same color as the snow outside. He glanced at the four of them, obviously surprised, although not alarmed. Instead of rushing them like she assumed he would, the man turned back towards the door with distaste. "Lit, would you come out here please? There's strange people in the throne room."

From behind her, Reyna heard shuffling, and Hedge attempted to run at the man, shaking his club and yelling "Die!" Lunging forward to stop him, it took all three of them to keep him from racing down the hall and beating the old man.

"Stop that!" Piper yelled, and Hedge slowed his struggling, glancing at her, his eyes narrowed.

From behind the old man, his son arrived. He looked like a typical college student at first, even if a slightly buff one. However, once he stepped in front of his father, the sword in his hand destroyed any hope that Reyna had left that this just happened to be a rich mortal's home. His entire body was covered in scars, as if he had to drag himself over broken glass every morning.

Holding up his sword, he immediately pointed it at Reyna, as if he had deemed her the biggest threat. She decided to take it as a compliment.

Just before he could attack, Piper stepped beside her. "Hold on! Everyone just calm down, this is just a misunderstanding." The charmspeak was thin, as if she wasn't quite sure how to use it, but it worked enough that everyone seemed to relax. Reyna tried not to look as uncomfortable as she felt with the fact that Piper was beginning to get better with her power.

Coach still was attempting to break free, but she turned on him. "Coach, stop. They could be friendly. Besides, we're the ones who broke in."

"Just one hit?"

"No."

He looked disappointed, but lowered the club anyways.

Piper turned back to Lit and the man, smiling brightly at them. Even though all four of them looked dirty and disheveled, her smile seemed to make all of those details fade.

"You speak well, girl. Lucky for your friends, or I would have to run them through."

"I try not to get disemboweled before lunchtime." From behind, Leo's voice interjected. "Tends to make a bigger mess, you know?"

Lit didn't look amused.

"Well, since you're here, you may sit down." The old man sighed, ignoring his son's protests. "After all, I suppose you've already seen me in my nightclothes. No use for formalities. Welcome to my humble home. I am King Midas."

Standing next to her, Reyna could hear as Leo muttered "Duh," under his breath.

* * *

"I don't understand how you're King Midas. He died." Coach Hedge muttered. They'd moved into the throne room at Midas's insistence, where he sat atop his golden throne, Lit standing to his right. The three demigods and Coach Hedge were left standing in front. It felt as if they were back in school, about to be scolded by a principal.

Piper stepped slightly forward, having taken on the role as their speaker. "What our satyr friend means to say is that you're the second mortal we've come across who should be dead."

Midas stroked his beard, glancing at Lit knowingly. "You know, I might have been. I hardly remember any of it, however. But now we're here, and I prefer it."

"But how?" Piper asked, taking another step forward. Reyna became uneasy, wanting to reach forward and grab her arm to keep her from getting any closer. Because if it truly was King Midas, being within touching range of him was probably a very bad idea. "Do you happen to have a patron?"

"I don't see why it matters much, my dear." Midas spoke.

Hedge huffed angrily, twiddling with his club. "I can make this guy talk, you know. Just say the word."

"Maybe you should wait outside, Coach," Reyna said, turning to glance at him.

"What? No!"

Thankfully, Leo met Reyna's gaze and nodded, taking the hint that having Hedge inside wasn't going to help their situation. "C'mon, Coach. We need someone to watch the perimeter, since we disabled all of the traps."

Midas frowned. "You did what?"

"Fine." Coach muttered. "But if you need me…" He ran a finger across his throat, then pointed towards Lit and Midas, before Leo had pushed him out of the room and towards the door. By the time Leo had made it back to them, the tension had managed to get worse.

"So, you sell gold?" Reyna spoke, her voice awkward, even to herself.

"Sell? No, my dear, I make it!" Midas spread his arms, gesturing to all of his golden items. "Gold is always the wisest investment. It will always be of value. Governments fall, the dead rise, giants attack Olympus, but gold remains in demand!"

"No in the Walking Dead." Leo pointed out.

Looking confused, Piper shook her head. "Your majesty, I thought you gave up your golden touch? After you turned your daughter to gold, you repented and gave it up in exchange for the secret of how to reverse the golden touch."

King Midas laughed, looking at Lit with amusement, as if he were saying _Oh, demigods! _"Repented! Dead a few thousand years, and everyone likes to twist the story. No, I never gave up my touch. There are times I do have to reverse it, which is why we live so close to the river, but I don't want accidents either, so the house itself has no running water. Gold is immensely useful, dear, and why would I ever want to give it up?"

"That was the moral of the story. That you learned your lesson about greed."

"May I see your backpack, dear?" Midas asked, his hand outstretched. Piper didn't look to excited, but she removed everything inside and handed it to Reyna, who didn't appreciate the fact that her hands were full, which would do no good in a fight. Throwing the bag, Midas caught it, and it's dark blue faded, turning a bright gold. "As you can see, my touch hadn't faded in the slightest. The pack is now magic as well- it will hold your storm spirits."

As he tossed the bag back, it was Leo who caught it, suddenly interested. Opening it, he held it towards the two cages, which instantly began to rattle. The locks shot off and onto the floor, and the backpack sucked up the storm spirits. Once they were inside, he held the pack towards Reyna, who dumped Piper's things inside and zipped it closed. "Nice." He murmured.

"You see, my touch isn't a curse. Life isn't always a lesson, girl. Besides, my daughter Zoe is much more pleasant as a statue." Midas pointed to the back corner, where a golden statue of a woman was, her face frozen in horror.

"That's horrible!" Piper protested.

"Oh, she hardly minds. Besides, if I'd learned my lesson, would I have these?" Without waiting for an answer, Midas removed his cap, and the trio squinted at the donkey ears that stuck out of either side of his head. If Lit hadn't still been holding a sword, she might have laughed. "Horrible, aren't they? They are a gift from Apollo, after I judged a music contest between him and Pan. When I declared Pan the winner, he said I must have the ears of an ass, and we are. My barber knew, so I had to keep him from blabbing. I suppose that is why my patron brought me back, to bankroll." He pointed to another statue.

Suddenly, Reyna realized just how many golden statues Midas owned. Glancing back to him, she realized that he wasn't just a talkative old man, but rather, someone who was unstable and very dangerous, his weapon being his touch.

"You do have a patron." Reyna spoke. "You work for the giants."

Midas laughed as he shifted in his throne. "I didn't take the three of you for dense, but I suppose I was mistaken."

It was in that very moment that Reyna realized that she wished Coach Hedge was inside.

* * *

**A/N: Sorry this one took so long! School got a little crazy. Expect for updates to mostly come on weekends, especially for these next couple of weeks! Thank you for all the support!**


	18. XVIII

Even though it was already freezing, the look that Midas gave them made Reyna feel even colder.

"Of course I have a patron, my dear." Midas told her, stretching out across his throne. Even though he still had on just a bathrobe, he hardly seemed to care, as comfortable as he would have been fully robed. "I don't care much for the giants, but fortunately, I don't have to associate with them much. I keep my patron well funded, and in return, I was allowed to live again. I tried to explain all this to the last group that passed through, but they were very persistent on not cooperating."

"The last group?" Reyna asked, slipping her ring into her palm as she prepared for the fight that was beginning to feel inevitable.

Lit shifted forward from behind his father's throne, his hand tightening on his sword. "The Hunters of Artemis." He answered, his voice filled with disdain.

She felt a wave of adrenaline go through her as he spoke their name, remembering what Percy had said about Thalia Grace being a part of the Hunters. If they had just passed through, then there was still a chance to catch up with them. It was desperate, but Reyna hoped that if she could talk to Thalia, she'd be able to tell her something that would allow her to find Jason. He'd know exactly who she was.

"When did they come through?" Reyna demanded.

He shrugged. "A few days ago. They were looking for some wolves or something, following their trail. Trying to find some missing demigod."

Of course they would have been looking for Annabeth, she realized. After all, she was in the picture as well, which meant that they must've been close at one point.

Leo must have sensed the tension in the air, because he stepped up beside Reyna, casting her a weary look. Piper stepped forward next, trying to muster her confidence. "It's been lovely, thank you for allowing us, but we really must be going-"

"You can't leave just yet, my dears! I must rebuild my collection one way or another, you see." Midas told them, rising to his feet. Lit appeared at his left, still holding onto his sword, as if waiting for the right moment to strike. "However, I always offer my guests a choice- even a king must be courteous, you know. Either you can be a part of my collection, or die at the hand of Lityerses."

Uneasiness passed over Piper's face, but she didn't step back. When she spoke again, her charmspeak was apparent. "Your majesty, you can't-"

Without even waiting for her to finish, Midas lunged forward and grabbed her wrist. She had only a second to look panicked before the gold had spread across her entire body, leaving her a statue in the middle of the room. Horrified, Reyna couldn't tear her eyes away from Piper.

Leo wasn't as frozen as her, instead trying to summon a fireball as he too stepped forward. Before Reyna could pull herself out of the shock long enough to grab him back, Midas stepped forward and managed to touch the slight of his hand, the gold spreading across his skin in seconds.

Reyna stepped back as Midas chuckled, before giving her a sad smile. "I'm afraid my power dampens all magic in the area. Don't be too worried, dear- You'll be joining your friends in just a moment."

"Hedge!" Reyna yelled, hoping her voice carried outside. "Need some help!"

After a moment of silence, she knew that the Coach wasn't coming. She was on her own. Midas seemed to realize this as well, because he simply chuckled, shaking his head.

Before he could get any closer to her, she held up her hand. "Wait. You said I could fight Lit instead. I choose combat."

With a look of disappointment, the king backed up to his throne. "As you wish."

With his father out of the way, Lit stepped forward into the center of the room. He was tall and buff, looking like a football player who'd done one too many steroids. His sword was the only thing in the room that wasn't gold, it seemed, but instead a dark silver. Raising it, he smiled at Reyna.

"I'm going to enjoy this. I am the Reaper of Men!" Lit told her, raising his sword.

"Good thing I'm not a man, then." Reyna shot back, allowing her ring to transform into her spear. Even from across the room, she could see the look of approval in Midas's eyes from the gold of her weapon.

Lit lunged first, which she'd been expecting. He was rash, and that became instantly apparent in his fighting. It was almost entirely offensive, each strike meant to hurt or attack, not to evade. At first, it was a challenge, but the longer it went on, the easier it became to predict his attack and block it. She hardly had to even move.

His face was red from both frustration and exhaustion. "You don't fight like a Greek." Lit accused.

"It's Roman. Legion training." She answered, the answer surprising her. Although she knew that Bellona was a Roman goddess, making her Roman, it still wouldn't have been her first answer if she'd stopped to think.

Lit, however, looked more confused than her at the answer, and quickly she realized that he'd been dead throughout the entire Roman Empire, and most likely had no idea what she spoke of. Instead of filling him in, she used his confusion to strike, the point of her spear nailing him in the shoulder and knocking him across the room, right into his father's throne.

"Lit!" Midas barked, as his son landed in his lap. "Get back up and-" Before he could even realize what he was doing, Midas placed his hand on Lit's shoulder, turning his son to gold.

"You're going to pay for that trick, demigod." Midas growled, managing to get out from between his throne and Lit. As he rushed towards her, Reyna kicked the coffee table in front of him, causing him to trip and land hard against the ground. She jumped over the sofa, landing as far away from Midas as she could manage.

She fumbled for any kind of plan, glancing around the room as fast as she could. It was beginning to rain outside, but there was no way she would leave Piper and Leo alone, Midas had said there was no running water inside the house, either, which left her wondering how she could get the water from outside into the throne room.

Glancing at the golden chandelier, she finally had her plan.

Just as Midas began to get up from the floor, Reyna jumped on top of the couch, shoving her spear up into the ceiling. Just as she'd expected, it went straight through, poking a hole through the roof. It was tiny, however, which meant she'd have to go with her original idea.

Just as the king managed to get to his feet, she threw the spear into the golden chandelier, cutting through the ceiling it attached itself to. The fixture fell to the ground with a loud crack, pinning Midas's feet to the floor.

Although it had done as she'd hoped, the ceiling continued to crack and fall, the rain now pouring into the room. Crossing over towards her friends, Reyna felt the tense in her chest fade as the gold slowly began to melt from each of them as the rain hit.

The door kicked in suddenly, and Reyna turned on her heel to see none other than Coach Hedge, his club raised above his head and ready to smash.

"You're a little late, Coach." Reyna muttered.

"Sorry. Who needs killing?"

"Nobody, now." She replied, shaking her head. "Just grab Leo, I'll get Piper." The gold only remained on their feet now, but both remained unconscious, something that worried her. "And quickly, before these other statues come to life."

Grabbing Piper's golden backpack from the ground, she pulled it over her shoulders before grabbing Piper's arm, balancing her weight and trying to keep her upright.

* * *

It took her and Coach Hedge nearly an hour to find out how to get the storm spirits to work, and another hour to find a place to hide when they'd stopped.

The spirits had only taken them so far, landing them somewhere in the mountains. On the way in, she'd spotted a sign that had read PIKES PEAK, right before the spirits had decided to stop ten feet above the ground, dropping them onto the side of a mountain.

The air was freezing cold, and the fact that Reyna was soaking wet wasn't helping. Finally they'd found a cave that provided shelter from the wind. To her relief, Leo woke up soon after they arrived, offering to make a fire if he had wood.

She'd volunteered to go, which she regretted immediately after she realized that it had begun to snow. It didn't take her very long to gather enough and head back, where Leo lit the fire and warmed the cave up almost immediately.

Reyna handed Leo one of the blankets she'd taken from Midas's, placing the other over the unconscious Piper. She was worried about her, especially since she hadn't woken up. Her skin was freezing, even though she was right beside the fire. After glancing her over, Coach Hedge decided it was hypothermia, and gave her "sports medicine," which Reyna had a feeling wasn't going to help them out much.

However, it must've done something, because she woke up about twenty minutes later, looking exhausted. "He turned me to gold." Piper muttered, drawing their eyes.

"Don't worry, you're alright." Reyna told her, placing a hand on her shoulder. She was shivering badly, but at least she was awake.

"Leo?" Piper called, sitting up. He leaned forward enough for her to see, giving her a salute.

"Present." He told her, a grin spreading across his face, obviously as glad as Reyna that she'd woken up. "I got the twenty four karat treatment too. The rain melted it faster for me, though. Of course, the rain's also why it's even colder in here."

Piper's eyes met Reyna's in confusion. "Midas didn't turn you to gold, did he?"

"No." Reyna answered, shaking her head slightly.

"Then why are you wet?"

Reyna told the three of them how she'd managed to beat Lit, trick Midas, and break open the ceiling with her spear, before her and Hedge had managed to turn the storm spirits into their horse form and take them as far west as they'd go.

"So were in… Colorado?" Piper asked after a moment. "Why?"

"It's as far as the spirits would take us." She replied with a shrug.

"That and Aeolus's palace is docked right above us." Coach Hedge added, rubbing his hands together as he placed them over the fire.

Although she wouldn't let herself admit it, Reyna was a little upset that she hadn't been able to find the Hunters of Artemis before they'd left. She had to remind herself that they could have gotten anywhere in a matter of days, and Thalia might not know her brother's whereabouts, anyways. It didn't make her feel any better.

After a little bit, Leo pulled a skillet from his toolbag, something that puzzled her greatly.

"How does that even work?" She asked, but he'd just winked.

"There's something I've been meaning to tell you guys," Leo spoke, pulling some food from the toolbag and beginning to cook it. As he did so, he told them all about the conversation he'd had with Hephaestus, mostly about how he'd told him that in order to defeat the giants, demigods and gods would have to work together, but how they would never admit it.

"That's because the gods hate needing humans," Coach spoke, picking at his club. "And by hate, I mean like, really hate it. They'd rather let things go to complete chaos before they admit it, too. Things are going to have to get ten times worse before Zeus will even consider reopening Olympus. If you want him to admit he made a mistake, it'll have to be at least fifty times worse."

The three of them stared at him in amazement.

"What? It's the Giant War 101- the gods don't like talking about it, obviously."

"I don't like it." Reyna murmured. "Hera said something about it when I spoke to her- something about Zeus being paranoid, and how she'd been hearing a voice in her head. What if someone's influencing the gods?"

Leo shifted slightly, looking away from the food to glance at Reyna. "My dad said that Zeus was acting weird- but it was what he didn't say that bothered me. He was acting like getting the demigods that we needed together was going to be impossible, and Hera had done something really dumb, and he couldn't tell me what it was."

"Chrion was that way back at camp. He said that there was something he wasn't allowed to discuss. Any ideas, Coach?"

He shook his head. "Nah, I'm just a saytr. They don't tell me the juicy stuff, especially an old…" He trailed off, going back to picking at his club.

"You're not that old, are you?" Piper asked.

"A hundred and six." Hedge replied. When Leo coughed, he cast him a glare. "That's only fifty three in human years, Valdez. But as I was saying, the Council doesn't exactly like me too much. I've been a protector longer than any of you have been alive. But when the war comes up, what do they do? Send me to Canada! Then afterwards, the Wilderness school. They don't think I'm useful because I like playing offence, those flower-pickers."

"Don't saytrs like nature?" Piper asked.

"I love it. Big things killing weaker things, natural selection, all that fun stuff. The council doesn't see it that way. Either way, that better be vegetarian, Valdez."

Leo smiled and put another vegetarian burger onto the skillet.

* * *

It wasn't until they were halfway through eating that Piper spoke up, looking troubled.

"We need to talk." She said, sitting up to look at each of them. "I don't wanna hide anything from you guys anymore."

Half of a hamburger in her mouth, Reyna said nothing, but locked eyes with the other girl.

"Three nights before the Grand Canyon, I had this dream- there was a giant, telling me my father had been kidnapped and that if I didn't do as he said, they'd kill him." Piper drew her eyes to the fire, biting her lip. "I tried to reach him, but all I got was his personal assistant. The giant told me that in order to get my dad back, I had to sabotage the quest. Then after we started the quest, he warned me that he wanted you two dead. I'm supposed to lead you to a mountain to exchange you for my dad tomorrow at noon."

She didn't feel quite as hungry anymore after she heard Piper's story. The fact that she'd been carrying the secret for days made her feel even worse for her friend.

"I'm sorry, Piper." Reyna told her, her voice sincere.

"Yeah, dude. You should have told us- we're more than just pretty, you know. We can help you." Leo told her, putting a hand on her shoulder.

Suprisingly, she didn't look happy to hear this. "You guys should be pissed at me. I'm supposed to kill you guys. I've probably killed my dad just telling you this."

"I doubt it." Hedge said, now on his third burger. "He still needs your dad for leverage. Since he needs you at this mountain, it means Hera is probably somewhere else. That way, you have to choose. Either way, Enceladus won't be letting you go, since you're one of the eight of the prophecy."

"So we have no chance." Piper murmured. "He'll kill my dad. It's all a trap."

"We're you're friends, Beauty Queen." Leo lectured. "We're gonna figure out a plan."

"It will help if we know where the mountain is. There's a lot in the Bay Area- mostly bad ones, especially for demigods. Othrys and Tam, just to name a few."

As he spoke, Reyna felt a memory beginning to come on, something that she'd gone without for a while. This time, however, she fought to retain it, knowing it had to do with Mount Othrys. Concentrating, she closed her eyes tightly, trying to focus.

"No, that's not right." She said, shaking her head and drawing stares from her three friends. "What happened on Mount Othrys?" She asked Hedge, her eyes flying open.

"Kronos had a big palace there last summer. Nasty place- it was going to be his HQ when he took over and all. Never any battles there, though. He fought in Manhattan for Olympus. I think he left some other Titans there to guard it. When Kronos was defeated, the whole place just crumbled on it's own."

As he spoke, she could see it, although it was quite hazy. The palace was built into the mountain as if it were a medieval castle, the black iron shining even through the fog. Reyna wore her purple toga, her spear in hand, decked out in golden armor. A flag flew on top of the building, and even though it was a memory, the rage she felt wasn't.

"No. That's not what happened." She told him, glancing up. "I was-"

Before she could finish her sentence, she heard a loud howl, one that was much too close for her liking. "Did you hear that?"

The second time it sounded, she was already too late.

* * *

**A/N: Sorry for the week delay, I had a crazy week and had no time to write. I hope you like it, and please leave a review so I can get your feedback! Thank you so much for reading!**


	19. XIX

The howls cut through the crackling of the fire, making the hair on the back of Reyna's neck stand up.

Piper looked even worse as she focused on the noise. "Wolves. They sound close."

Pushing herself off of the floor, Reyna slipped her ring off with numb fingers, letting it shift into her spear before she stepped in front of the others. She wanted to tell them that she was going to protect them, but once she glanced back, she felt no need. Piper had her dagger in hand, Hedge his club, and even Leo held a hammer, each sharing an alarmed expression.

She'd never admit it, but a small smile tugged at the corner of her mouth. It was gone the second she saw two red eyes appear at the mouth of the cave, locked directly on her. She took a step back as it stepped into the cave, followed by the rest of the pack.

None of them looked truly like wolves, each one larger than a golden retriever, each with pitch black fur and dark red eyes. The snow caked into their fur was stained with red, as if they'd covered themselves in blood before they'd made their way to the cave. They formed a line in front of the entrance, making it impossible to get out unless you passed through them.

Stepping forward, Reyna kept her eyes on the wolf in front, which was staring intently at her. "_There is nothing for you here._" She called, her words in Latin. "_Leave in peace, while you are still able to._"

None of them moved.

From behind her, she heard Coach Hedge shift. "I've got a plan. I kill them, and you guys take Piper and run."

"They'll rip you into shreds before we could even stand." Leo pointed out.

"I doubt it."

Reyna saw a figure approaching the cave, this one looking like a man rather than a wolf. She felt her stomach lurch, and turned back to her friends, the warning already on her lips.

"Look, no funny business, alright? We're sticking together. They'll respect a group more than individuals."

Looking back towards the entrance, she saw that the man had arrived, his hair full of snow. As he stepped into the firelight, she realized that it wasn't snow, but a crown on his dark hair made of what looked like the bones of small animals. He wore furs, each one splashed with the same blood that appeared to be on the corners of his mouth.

As he approached, his eyes scanned their group, before locking onto Reyna as the wolf's had. "_Look at this. A daughter of Rome." _His voice was deep, almost a growl.

"Speak english, wolf man!" Hedge yelled from behind her.

She wanted to turn around to whack him, but she decided now wasn't the time. The man looked angry enough, however, narrowing his eyes at Hedge.

"Tell your faun to mind his manners before we force him to, daughter of Rome." She heard Piper grab his arm to keep him from replying, which Reyna appreciated, not wanting to break eye contact with the man.

It was as if he was scanning them, placing faces to names as he weaved through the pack, looking at each one of them. He finally stopped walking when he looked back to Reyna, grinning at her and revealing a set of sharp teeth, much too pointed to be human.

"So it's true, then. I must say, I had my doubts. A son of Hephaestus, a daughter of Aphrodite, a faun, and a child of Rome. Bellona, no less. Yet you haven't killed one another yet." He looked amused.

"Who told you about us?" Reyna asked, not at all liking that he knew all about them, while they knew nothing about him.

"Oh, our patron told many of us about you all. We've been racing to find you, you know. The giant king will we quite pleased that it was us to who did so. I am Lycaon, king of the wolves."

Piper got to her feet shakily, and Reyna saw Lycaon's eyes shift to her. He tried to step forward, but she kept her spear leveled between them as she stepped with him, staying in his way.

"Leave." She ordered, steel in her voice. "There's nothing for you here."

Lycaon laughed loudly, shaking his head. "I wish I could kill you. I used to be a king, you know. King of Arcadia, with fifty sons, and Zeus killed them all with his lightning."

"For good reason!" Coach shot back, holding up his club, as if getting ready to jump him.

"What do you mean, Coach?" She asked, glancing over her shoulder quickly. "You know this guy?"

"I do." Piper said, standing behind Leo and trying to keep her balance. "Lycaon invited Zeus to dinner, but wasn't sure if it was him. So when he showed up, he fed him human flesh. Zeus was outraged and-"

"Killed my sons!" Lycaon howled. "Turned me into this half breed!"

Even after she heard the story, there was one thing that nagged at her. Leveling her spear at the werewolf, she narrowed her eyes. "You said you can't kill me. Why not?"

The anger didn't leave his face as he answered, his red eyes intimidating, sending a shock of fear through her. "You are spoken for, daughter of Bellona. Since the child of Aphrodite hasn't killed you, you're to be brought to the Wolf House alive. Unfortunately for me, someone else has already claimed the honor of slitting your throat upon that soil."

"Who?" She demanded.

He laughed, but it felt more like a cry of pain then actual laughter. "It doesn't matter. Spilling Roman blood at the Wolf House will mark my territory quite well. Lupa will understand the warning quite clearly."

She felt Piper's coat brush her side as she stepped forward, holding her knife out in front of her. Reyna wanted to yell at her to get back, that she was going to get herself killed.

"You're going to leave now, before we kill you." The charmspeak was present, but with her hypothermia, the power was too weak to hold for more than a few seconds.

The werewolf fixed his eyes on her, and Reyna pushed her behind her, keeping herself between them.

"A brave try. I will give you credit for that. However, my pack is hungry. I may not be able to kill you, girl, but I was given no such orders for your friends." He smirked when he saw their weapons raised, shaking his head. "Gold, steel, bronze- yet no silver."

Leo cursed from behind her, before throwing a bottle between her and Lycaon. From the nauseating smell, she could tell it was gasoline. He threw a fireball next, setting the whole cave alive with fire.

It sputtered out quickly, however, and Reyna wanted to scream.

"Weapons won't work," She warned. She intended to fight them with whatever she could scavenge- maybe a piece of firewood, if it came down to it. Sure, it might not kill them, but hopefully it would buy them some time.

Before she could enact her plan, a single arrow cut through into the cave, nailing one of the wolves in the chest and sending him into a puff of silver dust. She turned to look at Leo, figuring it must have been something he'd done, but he shook his head, obviously as surprised as she was.

Several more arrows flew into the cave, killing and injuring various wolves. One even managed to nail Lycaon in the shoulder, who pulled it out in disgust, before dropping the arrow in a cry of pain. In the firelight, Reyna could see it was an arrow made of pure silver.

Lycaon whistled, and his remaining wolves took off, sprinting out of the cave. Before he followed, he turned to look at Reyna, black blood dripping from his shoulder. "This is not over, child of Rome." Then he turned and ran.

As if on his heels, a small white wolf entered seconds after he'd left, looking up to them with gold eyes. It didn't feel threatening, however, but curious. After a moment, it tilted it's head and let out a loud howl.

Reyna kept her spear aloft, especially as the owners began to enter the cave.

Each one wore snow camouflage, a quiver on their back and knives at their belts. As they got closer, she could tell that they were all girls, even with their hoods over their faces. One of the taller ones shifted through and picked up the discarded arrow that Lycaon had left, before turning to the others.

"Go after him. Phoebe, stay with me. We will catch up to you quickly." Each of the girls nodded and threw themselves back out into the storm.

The leader turned back to them, pulling off her gloves and shoving them into her pockets. "Are you guys alright? We've been following that mutt's trail for a week now. Didn't know there was anyone else nearby."

Reyna froze up, the deja vu much stronger than she was used to. However, she felt a spark of excitement when she realized that she actually knew why she knew this girl's voice.

The way that she talked, the accent to her words, even in just the short couple sentences, reminded her of her few memories of Jason Grace. The picture in her pocket was seemingly on fire, as if it knew exactly who had come to their rescue.

"You're Thalia," Reyna spoke finally.

The girl paused for a long moment, before she pulled the hood down. She looked no different than she did in the picture- short black hair, tanned skin, freckles across her nose.

And her eyes were identical to Jason's.

"Do I know you?" She asked, obviously trying not to offend her.

"No, we've never met." Reyna told her honestly, pursing her lips. "But I knew your brother. Jason Grace."

For a second, Thalia's face was blank. Following it was shock, and eventually, it all faded until she was trying to contain her emotion, trying not to let it show.

"I think we should talk." She said finally, unable to hide the spark of hope in her eyes.

* * *

Thalia talked to the other hunter, Phoebe, and had her take Hedge outside to help treat Piper, who'd practically collapsed after the fight. She'd tried to send Leo off, too, but Reyna had asked him to stay, which she was glad he agreed to. She wasn't sure how this was going to go, and at least with Leo there, she felt more comfortable.

The three of them sat around the fire, a silence lingering between them. She wanted to spill everything to Thalia, to tell her all about what she knew. However, she knew that she might not know anything about her or where she came from, and she'd be back at square one.

"So," Leo spoke, cutting the tension quickly. "Is the whole hunters-don't-date thing like, all of the time?"

Thalia rolled her eyes, but didn't reply, instead looking back to Reyna. She seemed almost as reluctant to ask, but did so anyways. "What did you mean, that you knew my brother?" Her voice was steady, but the underlying current of worry was there.

"It's a long story." Reyna told her, rolling a discarded arrow between her fingers. She tried to explain it as quickly as possible, telling her about the prophecy, to Hera's imprisonment, the giant's taking Piper's dad, and the monster's they'd faced.

"I've been getting certain memories back over the last couple of days." Reyna told her, hoping that she didn't sound too crazy. "None of them are too coherent, but I know for certain that I was friends with your brother Jason. Hera left me those memories, probably on purpose."

"Hera took your memories?" Thalia asked.

She nodded. "Most of the time, when I try to remember things, it's just a blank. Like there's a wall in front of my memories, and I can't get around it. I mostly get feelings, though there's a few things I can remember."

From her pocket, she pulled out the photo she'd taken. "I saw this in the attic of the big house back at camp. I know it's crazy, but I recognized your eyes. They're exactly like your brother's. And-" Reyna paused, another memory coming to her, "And he told me once that he thought he'd had a sister, but had no idea where he'd even start looking for her. That he'd been used as some kind of peace offering for Hera, but he didn't know why."

The Huntress's eyes widened as she listened, but didn't interrupt. "Hera's always hated children of Zeus. My mother- she wasn't ever really present. Once, we went out on a trip to this old park. She sent me back to the car, but kept Jason with her. When I got back, he was gone. She said that he was gone, Hera had claimed him, and he was as good as dead. I searched for a long time, but I could never find him. I thought he was dead."

Her voice was shaky, but she looked at Reyna and smiled. "But he's not. You've seen him alive."

"I just don't understand how any of this ties in." Reyna confided, feeling almost more frustrated than she had been before. There were too many puzzle pieces, but none of them seemed to be fitting together.

"Especially with the Roman stuff." Leo replied, earning an odd look from Thalia.

"Roman stuff?" She questioned.

"Yeah. Reyna speaks Latin instead of Greek, knows the gods by their Roman names, has that weird tattoo." As Leo continued to list off the weird Roman-y things, Reyna dug the tip of the arrow into the cave floor, trying to concentrate.

Being around Thalia seemed to sharpen her memory of Jason- his blond hair, the small scar above his upper lip, the way that he always laughed at her for being too serious. She felt as if she were violating his privacy, learning all about his past and talking to his sister, things that he'd never been able to do.

"Latin," The other girl looked thoughtful. "Zeus always spoke Latin when he came around the second time. Seemed more formal. He could have been in his Roman aspect, but that wouldn't make sense- there would surely be tons of others, right? And there's no way that Jason could have survived on his own as a child of Zeus, or Jupiter. You'd need training, a place to be-"

"We've heard of others, too. Like the son of Mercury at the cyclops' place. Are you sure there isn't like a Roman Camp Half-Blood?

She shrugged. "I don't think so. I would have to ask my goddess. She's the one who sent us this way, saying I'd find a clue to a missing friend."

"Annabeth." Reyna spoke, glancing at the photograph.

Thalia nodded. Before she could speak, her wolf barked, and she sighed before getting to her feet. "I've got to start moving before I lose my Hunter's trail. But I will take the two of you to Aelous's palace first. Leo, would you mind going to inform the others?"

This time, he nodded and left the cave, and Reyna didn't protest.

"Thank you, Reyna, for telling me all this." Thalia said, placing a hand onto her shoulder as she stood. "It has been a long time since I've allowed myself to hope that I would ever see my brother again."

"Of course." She spoke, handing the picture over to the Huntress. She took it, glancing down at the picture sadly.

Reyna felt the sharp pang that she knew would be coming, especially at the thought that she was no closer to knowing who she was than she had been earlier. She'd hoped that Thalia would have been able to tell her something that would clue her in, or help her realize where she was from. Now that she hadn't been able to, she couldn't help the disappointment that she felt, especially since their deadline was staring them straight in the face. If they couldn't stop the giant, or the mystery patron, then her memories would be gone forever, and she'd die still wondering who she was, and if anyone had even noticed her absence.

As Thalia exited the cave, Reyna followed, her face blank and her heart heavy.

* * *

**A/N: Sorry if this chapter seems a little awkward, I tried to smooth it over as much as I could, but it wasn't working out. Hopefully you enjoy it anyways! We're starting to get towards the end, and if I get enough support, I'd really love to continue this series and do the Son of Neptune (which would be changed to Daughter of Minerva). Please let me know your thoughts, and thank you for reading!**


	20. XX

The wind tore through Reyna's jacket, the cold seemingly melting straight into her core.

The sky was still a dark blue, but the edge of the horizon was beginning to lighten, the moon shining brightly. From high up on the mountain, she could see thousands of stars, none of them obscured from the lights of a city. If her mood hadn't have been dampened, she probably would have stopped to watch them.

Instead she trudged through the snow after Thalia, arms crossed tight over her chest.

A few feet away from the cave was a silver tent, seeming to almost glow in the dark. It was tiny, probably only fit for a person or two, without much room. However, Thalia went straight for it, pulling the flap open and disappearing inside.

Once she slipped into the tent, her jaw dropped. The inside was nearly triple the size that it appeared from outside, completely decorated and warm, as if a heater had been set up. Sitting around a small fire was Piper and Hedge, joined by an unfamiliar Hunter, while Thalia and Leo stood by.

"You're joking," Leo said, glancing to Thalia. "We were freezing our asses off in a cave while Piper was in here? Why couldn't I be the one to get the hypothermia?"

The other huntress rolled her eyes, before casting Leo a look that would have easily frozen over a city.

"It's okay, Phoebe." Thalia spoke. "They'll need some coats, especially if they're going to be out in this cold on their own."

The girl, Phoebe, glared as she handed a coat over to Leo, but softened her gaze as she moved to hand one to Reyna, nodding once as she handed the jacket over to her. She shrugged the jacket on, and was surprised to how warm the silver fabric was, especially for how thin it seemed.

Thalia moved over towards Piper, who also wore a jacket and had her hands spread out over the fire. "You feeling any better? Ready to go?"

Piper cracked a smile. "Yeah, thanks to Phoebe. I feel much better."

"Great. We can get moving, then."

It only took Phoebe and Thalia a few minutes to take down the tent, folding it up into the size of a sticky note. The interest in Leo's eyes was obvious, but Reyna cast him a look before he could begin to ask.

"What?" Leo questioned.

"I wouldn't," She told him. "They don't seem to like guys too much."

He raised his eyebrows but nodded, as if this made sense, and let it be.

"Alright, Aeolus's palace is just up this way." Thalia said, pointing towards a path on the right. "We'll show you the way." From there, they started a jog up the side of the mountain, the sunlight still hidden, leaving the moon as the main source of light.

The only one who looked happy to be running up the side of the mountain early in the morning was Coach Hedge, who grinned crazily and weaved through the group, looking all around as they ran. "Come on Valdez, McLean, you're putting me to shame! C'mon, let's chant. 'I've got a girl in Kalamazoo-'"

"Let's not." The huntress said, cutting him off effectively.

Free from Hedge's taunting, Leo fell back towards Reyna, jogging besides her.

"How are you holding up?"

The surprise on her face was obvious, but she figured that it was a reasonable question. "I'm not sure. I was hoping that Thalia would know something about her brother that would help me out, like where he was or how he'd know me. But she knows as little as I do. I'm back to where I started, having no idea who I am or how to find out."

"We're gonna figure it out." He reassured her. "Things may be completely psychotic right now, but we're going to find out, okay? Don't worry."

Reyna managed a smile, but the weight of the problem was still heavy on her chest. As they reached the top of the mountain, they came to a stop. The air was thin and hard to breathe in, which made it even harder to breath when Reyna saw the floating palace. It was connected to the mountain only by a bridge, one that seemed to be made of ice.

"We're not seriously crossing that, are we?" Leo asked breathlessly.

For once, Thalia actually looked sympathetic as she glanced at Leo. "I don't like the heights much either, but it's the only way in. It's hidden by the mist, too, so we're the only ones who can see this thing floating." She paused, as if thinking. "We should cross in two groups. It might be safer, since we don't know how much weight it will hold.

Hedge was the first to approach the bridge, tapping it gently with his hoof. When he felt satisfied, he jumped on all at once, and it held. Grinning, he turned to Piper, holding out his hand.

"Easy! Come on, McLean, we're wasting time. I'll give you a hand."

"I'm good, actually-" Piper tried to protest, but he pulled her up anyways. The two made their way across the bridge easily, hopping off as they reached the end without any problem.

Once they were off, Reyna stepped on gently, followed by Leo. Thalia came up in the rear, after sending Phoebe off after the rest of the Huntresses.

Once they were a good fourth in, she felt Leo come to a halt behind her, and glanced over her shoulder to him.

"Why's the bridge here?" He asked, as if suddenly coming to this realization.

"What?"

"They're wind spirits. They can just fly across, so why do they need a bridge?"

Thalia paused for a moment, glancing uneasily between the bridge and Leo. "They don't like to anchor to the earth, but they have to sometimes. Like now- they know that you're coming, and you can't fly across." Her expression suddenly became worried. "Leo, get moving."

As he shuffled backwards, Reyna's eyes widened in horror. Where he'd been standing was two footprints in the bridge, seemingly burned in. His hands were steaming, as well as his sneakers.

"Hold on," He said, turning to face Reyna. "What did Hera call you in that dream? She called you a bridge, right?"

"Yeah, she did. But if we don't get off _this _bridge, we're going to fall down a mountain." She spoke quickly, her eyes darting towards the smoke on his clothing.

"Listen, okay? If Reyna's a bridge, what's she connecting? Two different places that normally wouldn't get along, like the palace and the mountain. You were somewhere before this, and wherever it is, it obviously wouldn't get along with where we are now. And Hera said you were an exchange."

"An exchange? Oh gods," From behind, Thalia took a few steps back. "That's why Artemis sent me here. She told me I'd find a clue about Annabeth by following Lycaon- it was you, Reyna. Hearing your story was my clue."

She shook her head, completely lost. "That doesn't make any sense. I barely have a story. I can't remember anything."

"Leo's right, everything is connected. If we just knew where-"

From beside her, Leo's eyes suddenly widened. "What did you call that place in your dream? The Wolf House?"

"The Wolf House?" Thalia almost choked. "That's it! That's where they're keeping Hera!"

"You know where it is?" She asked, eyes widening.

"Go! Find the giant who's keeping Piper's dad. I'll take the Hunters to the Wolf House and hold it until you guys get there. You said that Hera send it to you in a dream, right? She'll guide you there if you ask."

Already turned on her heel, Thalia started for the end of the bridge, back towards the mountain. "I'll see you all there!"

As soon as she hopped off the bridge, it began to dissolve. Leo and Reyna locked eyes for a split second, before taking off running for the other side. Although it was slippery, the two of them managed to make it to the end of the bridge and jump off before it could disappear completely, and the two nearly collapsed against the solid ground.

"Come on, you two, look alive!" Hedge yelled, eliciting a groan from the both of them. "We've got just over twenty four hours to do all of this. Let's go meet the king of the winds!"

* * *

As it turned out, Hedge lost all interest in seeing Aeolus as soon as he'd seen his front lawn, and has insisted that they went on without him, and that he'd catch up later.

As little as Reyna wanted to leave him behind, she figured it might be a little easier to negotiate without the satyr threatening their one chance for information.

The three of them passed through the doors of the palace, which were giant and made completely of gold. The room they stepped into was equally as big, decorated with white marble columns and banners spread around the room.

"I've gotta say, this wasn't what I was expecting." Leo spoke, frowning at the room.

"What were you expecting? Just a giant wind tunnel?" Piper shot back.

Before they could continue, they were quickly interrupted as a woman floated up towards them. She wore a white dress that seemed not to touch the ground, her slightly pointed ears and dark hair easily marking her apart as an Aura.

"Hello! Are you from Olympus? We've been expecting you!" Her voice was light and airy.

"Uh, hi." Piper replied, glancing to Reyna quickly. "I'm Piper, and this is Leo and Reyna. We're-"

Before Piper had a chance to correct her, she was pushing them forward, down a foreign hallway. Her gaze was locked on a tablet in her hand, which was scrolling through numbers and words too fast for her to read. "We're out of prime time now, which is good. I can put you in right before the 11:12 spot."

The room she led them into was utter chaos. All around were paper airplanes, flying around and occasionally being picked up by one of the dozens of people, before being thrown back. Camera equipment was scattered all around, even in the middle of the room, where Reyna realized suddenly, that there was no floor.

Leo didn't look down as he continued forward, and Reyna grabbed the back of his jacket, pulling him back and keeping him from heading straight into the pit.

"Holy shi-" Leo started, effectively cutting himself off. "A little warning, please!"

Mellie looked startled, before realizing the source of Leo's outburst. "Oh, my apologies!" Grabbing a walkie talkie from one of the floating carts of equipment, she spoke into it quickly, and before they knew it, a team of harpies had built a floor- although it wasn't exactly the most sturdy, made of duct tape and any surface they could find.

None of them looked okay with this, but Reyna stepped out first, surprised that it held. Quickly, the three of them crossed towards the other side, where a man was standing just in front of a large green screen, going over notes.

"Mr. Aeolus!" Mellie spoke, bringing them to a halt beside him. "Sir, these are the demigods. This is Reyna-"

"Ah yes, I remember." Looking up from his notes, she noticed his appearance. He wore a dark blue suit, which contrasted his bright white hair. Although it was smoothed into place, he still looked rather wild, as if he'd just ran through a tornado. "You're back, then. How did it go?"

Reyna's eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "Uh, sorry? I think you're mistaking me-"

"You're Reyna Ramirez-Arellano, aren't you?" His smile was deafening, even when it was just a formality. "It's been- what, a year? You and your friend were going after a sea monster, I believe."

"I don't remember." She couldn't hide the troubled look on her face, even as he looked away.

Yet, as he spoke, she felt a warmth beginning in her gut. She'd been here before. She'd been going after a monster- meaning that before she'd gotten her memory wiped, she'd definitely been well aware of her abilities, and had been killing monsters.

"Sir, we brought you these storm spirits," Reyna told him, pulling the golden backpack from her shoulders.

"Did you! How nice." He looked at the bag sourly.

"Boreas had us capture them for you. We hope you'll accept them and call off the order for all demigods to be killed."

Aeolus looked absolutely astonished. "I ordered that? I must have been grumpy. Recount that order, Mellie, and have someone take these storm spirits to the cell block."

The harpy swooped in and took the storm spirits, before she disappeared equally as quickly, disappearing into one of the many hallways.

Aeolus smiled. "Sorry about that. I was in such a bad mood that day." His eyes darkened for a moment, like storm clouds rolling in. "I remember now. It was almost like a cold voice in my head, telling me to give that order. How odd. Mellie, should we kill them?"

Mellie smiled patiently. "No, sir. They're very kind and helpful, which makes it okay."

"Of course. You're right." As he looked up, his face dropped. "It's time! I'm on!"

He moved in front of the cameras as the music began to play, and instantly began on a series of weathercasts that were much too random to keep track of. However, his smile never faltered as he spoke, always changing the weather as a different god decided it, which seemed to be at random. It only took a few minutes, but by the time it ended, she was more confused than before.

Walking back towards them, he kept his frightening smile in place. "So, thank you for the storm spirits. Did you want something else? All demigods do."

"They're from Olympus, sir." Mellie told him.

His face seemed to morph, changing to uttermost excitement, which made Reyna even more worried than before. "Finally! I knew my contract was soon to be renewed. It's been three thousand years since I've been master of the winds, not that I'm ungrateful! But what does that entail? Am I a god, a nature spirit? I want to be a god, obviously, so let's start with that."

"We're not from Olympus." Reyna interrupted. "We're on a quest, and we need your help."

Immediately, his face hardened into something terrifying. "Like last time? Demigods always want something. You say you want information?"

"Yes." Piper spoke, her voice calm and collected. "We hear you know everything, so obviously you were the most logical choice."

"Well, that's true." He sat up a bit straighter. "For instance, I know that this quest here is that hairbrained idea of Juno's to bring you all together, and it's likely to fail. As for you, Piper McLean, your father is in trouble." One of the paper airplanes fell, dropping a small paper in his hand. As he held it out to Piper, it was obvious that it was a picture. In it was a younger Piper, arm in arm with a man who must have been her dad.

She took the photo, obviously shaken. "This is from his wallet."

"Anything lost in the wind is mine, dear. It was lost when the earthborn took him." Another paper fell, this time dropping a much larger sheet of paper, covered in crayon markings. He held it out to Leo. "And you, son of Hephaestus, this is the key to your future. To your success!"

Leo looked totally lost, but the look faded once he glanced at the paper. "I drew this when I was a kid." After seeing her worried look, he shoved it into his coat. "It's nothing."

Finally, a third plane fell, and Aeolus took it, glancing up in concern. "Information is dangerous, you know. It can change the course of action."

His eyes were locked on Reyna's. She nodded quickly. "I know."

As if this answer satisfied him, he held out the paper to her.

It was a picture, obviously a few years old. In it was Reyna, looking much younger, probably only about twelve. Her hair was braided down her back and out of her face, which was smiling happily. Another girl was also in the picture, with her arm around Reyna, also smiling, though her eyes were much happier.

She thought of her dream, where she'd been running from some unknown foe, with that same girl forcing her to change clothes and telling her of a place she would be safe. She'd told her that she loved her and forced her to continue to run. The girl's name had been Hylla.

And now, taking the picture in her hands, Reyna knew that Hylla was her sister.

* * *

**A/N: Sorry for taking so long to update! Things have been completely crazy these last few weeks. Hopefully things will start to slow down soon so I can update more regularly. Thank you all for your reviews and feedback, I truly appreciate it! **


	21. XXI

Reyna was unable to take her eyes off the photograph, staring at it blankly.

She had a sister, one that she couldn't even remember. She could remember Hylla's name, her face, but other than that she was drawing a blank. It made her feel like a terrible sibling, the fact that she could vaguely remember one of her friends, but nothing about her own sister.

"Reyna?" Piper asked, her voice soft and drawing her attention immediately. "What is that?"

Tearing her eyes away from the picture, she was tempted to shove it into her pocket as Leo had, pretend that everything was alright. But she knew that it wouldn't get anything done, keeping secrets, so she flipped the picture around, showing it to Piper and Leo.

"It's me. The other girl is my sister, Hylla."

The same shocked look crossed over both of her friend's faces. "You have a sister?" Leo asked, his eyes wide.

She nodded, but focused back on Aeolus, who was watching her carefully. "Yeah, I do. But we need to find Enceladus's lair."

"Enceladus?" Aeolus echoed, his face morphing into one of disgust. "He's awful! A sea monster would be much nicer. Why on earth would you want to see him?"

"He has my father." Piper replied, stepping forward. "We need to rescue him and find out where Hera is being held captive. If we can find Enceladus, he can tell us where the Wolf House is, the place where Hera's being kept-"

"Yeah," Interjected Leo, nodding in agreement. "And Zeus would be very grateful to you-"

"And would might even promote you." Reyna offered.

Aeolus paused, obviously waiting for something. His head was cocked to the side, and for a moment, Reyna wondered if he was about to lose it. However, she realized quickly that he was listening to something, periodically nodding his head.

"Well, Zeus approves." Aeolus informed, "Something about a so- Oh, well, nevermind that. Aphrodite and Hephaestus also agree, which if I may say, is quite a rarity."

All three of them shared a look, wondering if things had gone right for once.

From their left, Coach Hedge entered the room, and the good feeling that she'd had suddenly disappeared. She began to pray to anyone that would listen for him not to end up getting them killed or thrown out before they were even able to acquire the location of the lair.

"What's up guys?" Coach asked, crossing the room, and stopping as soon as he found a patch of the grass that had been attached to the 'floor'. "You guys had _sod squares _in here and didn't tell me?"

"We're kind of using it as a floor, Coach. This is Mellie-" Reyna told him.

"An aura, I see. Beautiful as a summer's breeze." She blushed, her skin becoming more visible in her cheeks as she did so.

"Aeolus was just about to help us."

"It seems that I was." Aeolus said, glancing Coach Hedge over for a moment, before looking back to the demigods. "You will find Enceladus on Mount Diablo."

"Devil Mountain?" Leo asked. "Yikes."

"I remember that place," Piper spoke up. "I've been there with my Dad before. It's just east of San Francisco Bay."

Coach Hedge sighed, shaking his head. Before anyone could ask him what was wrong with San Francisco, Aeolus was pulling their attention away.

His smile was still bright and terrifying as he spoke. "Now, about getting you all there…"

The master of the winds suddenly trailed off, his eyes going blank, as if seeing through them. He put his hand on the earpiece, his eyes widening. He was mouthing something, completely unaware that they were even still there.

He looked completely terrified, his hand still on his ear. "Yes, I understand. She hasn't reached out to me in centuries."

Letting his hand drop from his ear, Aeolus turned to the four of them, a mix of pity and anger in his eyes. "I am truly sorry, Reyna Ramirez-Arellano. But I have orders, and now they are that the four of you are to die."

"What?" Mellie interjected. "Sir, you can't! Zeus and the others decreed that you would help-"

"Do not question me, Mellie! Your job is already on the line. There are some orders that are more important than even the gods' will. If she is truly waking, by the gods, she can't be denied. I am sorry for this."

Reyna pulled her ring off and transformed it into her spear, and Hedge raised his club. But Aeolus had freed the storm spirits with nothing but a wave of his hand, and they immediately went for the unstable floor.

"No!" Mellie yelled, and jumped for the ground. Just as she hit the ground, the floor imploded, the beams and pieces of random flooring all falling into pieces. Mellie's robes expanded, keeping the pieces of flooring from becoming projectiles and killing them on the spot.

"You are so fired!" Aeolus screamed.

"Quick, Daughter of Bellona, gather your friends so I can break your fall." Mellie yelled over the roar of the wind.

They were falling out in the open air, into the city below them. Reyna grabbed Piper's wrist, pulling her close, before reaching out and grabbing Leo as well. Piper managed to grab onto Mellie, with Leo hanging onto Coach.

They all held on tightly as they fell, Mellie with a look of complete concentration on her face.

"Oh god, I'm gonna puke." Leo yelled.

"Don't you dare!" Piper screamed back.

"Bring it on, gas bags!" Coach taunted. "I'll end you right here and now!"

Mellie sighed, looking at the Coach. "He's magnificent."

"Focus!" Reyna replied.

Slowly, they began to quit falling as fast, the winds becoming less intense. It was still not comfortable, hanging onto her friends as they fell through the open air, the city below getting closer and closer.

"I can't hold this long! Be ready when the winds hit." Mellie told her, before zeroing in on Coach Hedge. "Iris message me?"

He winked back at her.

"Look out!" Piper screamed.

From behind them, three storm spirits had seemingly zeroed in on them. They were approaching much more quickly than the ground was, and obviously pissed.

"I'll try and shield you all!" Mellie told her.

Without another word, she dissolved, turning into a warm breeze. Immediately after she had gone, the storm spirits slammed into them, a wave of wind so strong that she hardly had time to realize what was happening before she was passing out.

* * *

Reyna was woken up by the sound of Piper yelling.

She tried to sit up, but ended up striking her knees into something hard. Her eyes flew open, and she realized that she was sitting at a small cafe table, her friends all sitting beside her, woken up by her assaulting the table.

The air was warm, and there was an entire row of palm trees across the road that brought a sense of peace to Reyna that she hadn't felt since she'd woken up on the bus. The air was warm, despite the fact that it was winter, and she knew without a doubt that they were in California.

Looking back to her friends, her eyebrows narrowed immediately. "What are you wearing?" She asked, the question aimed at all three of them.

Piper wore a blue dress, a pair of leggings, and matching boots and a jacket, her hair done up nicely and fresh makeup applied. Leo wore what seemed to be a white button up shirt, suspenders, black pants, and a porkpie hat, his tool belt around his waist.

Hedge, however, was a disaster. He wore a bright yellow suit with a red shirt and a blue tie. She tried hard not to laugh.

"Aphrodite strikes again. You're going to be the best dressed warrior in town, beauty queen." Leo teased, earning a dirty look from Piper.

"Look at yourself recently?" She shot back, and he looked down, his cheeks reddening as he realized his outfit.

"It looks good, kid." Hedge replied, before grinning. "But I look better."

Reyna looked down at her own clothing, and was immediately glad for the fact that she'd been given a sturdy pair of black jeans. Her shirt, although not her t-shirt, was the same purple, but without any designs, She had also been given a pair of black boots and a leather jacket, which she found to be surprisingly warm. Her hair was braided back and out of her face, which she could tell from the reflection of her plate, was without makeup.

"How did we get here?" Reyna asked, looking up.

"That was Mellie." Hedge said. "The winds shot us across the country, but Mellie's breeze softened the fall."

Piper shook her head, before glancing down at her empty cup. "Anyone else starving?"

"Where's our stuff?" Leo asked, causing Piper to look down, and Reyna to copy her. At her side was her pack, which she immediately began to forage through. She barely had to, because she found the items she was looking for immediately. Her purple shirt and the photograph of her and Hylla was sitting on top, neatly folded and untampered with.

She let out a sigh of relief, glad that she hadn't lost them. From across the table, Piper pulled out an entire wad of cash from her pack, her eyebrows raised in surprise.

"Damn!" Leo said, obviously impressed. "Now that's an allowance."

A waitress came over and took their ordered, obviously displeased at the sheer amount of food ordered mostly by Hedge. From her, they were able to figure out that it was nine am on December 21, and that they had around three hours until the giant's deadline.

"I think I know who this enemy is." Piper said at last, after taking a bite of her scone. "It's Gaea,"

"Gaea?" Leo asked, raising his eyebrows. "You mean like… mother nature?"

"Listen up, cupcakes." Hedge started, taking a long drink of his third espresso. "Piper is right. Gaea is no softie. I don't even know if I'd be able to take her single handedly."

All three of them raised their eyebrows, and the coach nodded. "I know. She's the mother of all evil, from the Titans and Kronos to the giants themselves. Kronos was bad, but Gaea is the worst. She's so old and powerful that she's always somewhat asleep, never awake. If she _was _to wake up… Let me tell you, it wouldn't end well for anyone."

"She's causing the monsters to rise. The giants, especially. If they resurrect Porphyrion-"

"He'll raise the other giants and destroy the gods." Reyna finished. "First with Hera. That will start a war, and Gaea will wake up."

Leo, who had until now been pleasantly shoving food into his mouth, let out a sigh. "Well then, guys, you ready to go climb this mountain?"

"I can't ask you all to do this." Piper protested.

"Well, we're coming anyways." Reyna informed. "So, let's get moving, shall we?"

* * *

The taxi ride they took up the mountain was terrifying. The cabbie had obviously gone up the path before, and didn't mind that the cab was being shook around as if there was an earthquake. When he reached a spot towards the top of the mountain, he stopped the car, and it was everything Reyna could do not to launch herself out of the cab and lay on the ground, especially since it was now her enemy.

Leo handed the driver some of Aphrodite's money, and he sped off, not wanting to stay any longer than he had to.

They walked from the edge of the road to the dirt trail, which looked out over the city. "That's Concord." Reyna spoke, the words almost involuntary. "Danville is south. West-" She moved her hand, pointing towards the foggy hills. "Those are the Berkeley Hills. Just past is San Francisco."

"Have you been here before?" Piper asked, looking at her with curiosity.

She shrugged. "I don't know. It just feels important."

"That's Titan land." Hedge said, shaking his head. "We don't want to get any closer."

Even though she knew he was probably right, every bit of her wanted to go towards San Francisco, wanted to know why she was so driven towards it. Just being this close was eating at her, wanting her to get as close as she could and find out.

She knew that she couldn't- her duty was with her friends, and she was going to figure this all out one way or another.

"How do we know where the giant is?" Piper questioned.

"I'm going to guess that way." Pointing, Reyna followed Leo's direction until she saw the smoke rising into the air, the dark mixing with the fog.

The four of them ran up the hill and towards the fire, getting as close as they dared. Reyna finally ducked behind a rock as they got close, kneeling in the dirt to stay hidden.

Just on the other side was Enceladus's camp. In the center was a huge bonfire, changing colors just like the one at Camp Half-Blood had. There were dozens of construction trucks around, each one abandoned. The giant himself was near the fire, thirty feet tall and covered in armor. His hair was braided with bones, some looking grotesquely human. He didn't notice them, too focused on the fire in front of him to hear them.

From beside her, Piper squeaked. "Look," She pointed.

A man was tied up on the other side of the bonfire, and with a shock, she realized that it was Piper's father. He was tied to a post with ropes, completely unconscious.

"Okay, so there's four of us and one of him," Hedge started. "So me, Reyna, and Leo distract. Piper, you sneak around and free your dad."

Leo looked at him as if he were crazy, before everyone's eyes fell on Reyna.

"Coach is right. It's our best plan." She agreed, before letting out a breath.

"Then let's hurry up and get this over with before I lose the little faith I have in this plan." Leo shot back, grabbing a hammer from his toolbelt.

She hoped for Tristan McLean's sake that their best plan was good enough.

* * *

**A/N: Thank you for your lovely reviews! One day I'm going to update on time. Also, as a note, just know that I have no set pairings yet, and I'm open to any suggestions you might have. Thank you for reading!**


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